


Worlds Collide

by Kisans



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ask The Font Family, Other, role play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-07-11 21:45:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7071637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kisans/pseuds/Kisans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a casual day in Snowdin; light flurries falling all around as the local Font kids hung out in front of their home. Arial and Courier seemed wrapped up in their small snowball fight while Roman lounged on the stoop of their home, slowly dozing off as he watched them play.</p><p>There was the distinct feel of magic opening up in the distance and a small shout of fear rang out. A small skeleton child with a blue flame engulfing the top of her skull shivered as she sniffled, struggling to her feet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I would say this is a short Role play of how the children of Ask The Font Family and the children of Bone-Cousins meet, but then I'd be lying.
> 
> It is by no means short.
> 
> But, I hope you enjoy it!

It was a casual day in Snowdin; light flurries falling all around as the local Font kids hung out in front of their home. Arial and Courier seemed wrapped up in their small snowball fight while Roman lounged on the stoop of their home, slowly dozing off as he watched them play.

There was the distinct feel of magic opening up in the distance and a small shout of fear rang out. A small skeleton child with a blue flame engulfing the top of her skull shivered as she sniffled, struggling to her feet.

Her magic had surged again and forced her to 'jump' to who knows where and this time she didn't have her cousin with her. The eight year old sniffled as she looked around, shivering in the snow, trying to figure out where she was.

The surge of magic snapped Roman suddenly wide awake, head jerking upwards. Courier and Arial both stopped their horse-playing as they all grouped together, knowing that magic spurts like that didn't always end well. 

Arial grabbed both the boys' hands, marching curiously towards the location of the surge. The three pause when they see the other small skeleton child, even more curious now.

"Hello...?" Courier calls out to the girl, only hiding behind Arial a little bit.

Tempus gasped, eyes going wide when she saw the other skeleton children. The only other skeletons she had only ever seen were her mother, uncle, and cousin. To see others, frightened her a bit. She scrambled to her feet, wincing as some of snow had melted from the heat of her flame and 'burned' her hands.

Her arms came up defensively and she took a few steps back. "D-don't hurt me!"

Courier flinched at the sight of her fire, clutching onto the back of Arial's jacket. The green clad skeleton only stood tall, protecting the two smaller boys- which didn't last long as Roman pushed past her, seeing how the girl seemed to be more scared than they were.

The frail boy slowly approached Tempus, hands wringing nervously at the edge of his sweater.

"W-we won't hurt y-you.... A-are you okay....?"

Tempus startled when the skeleton child with the cracked skull approached her, her flame flaring in panic for a moment before dying down significantly. She shrunk down a little, pulling her arms to her chest and glancing nervously at the tallest skeleton child who appeared to be the same age as her older cousin.

Looking over and focusing on skeleton child in front of her, she shook her head a little. "The water- water hurts to touch... but I moved away from it quick enough I think..." She motioned to the puddle she'd created.

"Um... w-where am I?"

"Y-you're in Snowdin!" Roman said in a cheery tone, still keeping a cautious distance between them, seeing what the girl's fire had done to the now scorched ground below her. Stealing a glance back at his sister and cousin, Roman took a step towards Tempus.

"A-are you lost? What's your name?" He started to fire off questions and quickly quieted himself by gently covering his mouth. "I'm sorry, that was rude, m-my name is Roman."

"S-snowdin??" She sounded panicked. "N-not again..." Tempus whimpered. Her powers had acted without her consent and she must have jumped universes again and she was stuck. 

The young monster was trying to keep herself composed even as she started to tear up liquidy sooty tears. "M-my name is Tempus..."

"Don't cry-!" Courier shouted from his hiding place before timidly stepping away from Arial, who wore a look of worry all her own. They understood how it felt to be thrown into the wrong universe all too well. 

Courier puffed his chest out, trying to make himself look more confident as he joined Roman's side, Arial trailing behind him. "It's nice to meet you Tempus! Your name is very nice." He added to the compliment by giving her a tiny bow.

"Y-yeah-!" Roman nodded his head, giving the flaming skeleton a bright smile. "Oh, and this is my sister Arial- a-and cousin, Courier." He said quietly, gently rocking on his feet. 

"W-we can try to help you, I-if you'd like."

"Roman. Arial. Courier. F-fonts? Like me?" She seemed to be repeating the names to herself, to commit them to memory, but also in a questioning tone. She had truly never seen other skeletal children before outside of her immediate family.

At the mention of their help, her expression fell and Tempus rubbed at her eyes, leaving black trails down her skull. "I don't know if you c-can help me, though!" She hiccuped, her flames becoming smaller as she grew more distressed. "I don't k-know how I do this! Last time my older cousin helped m-me get home with a machine but n-now, this time, I'm all alone..."

"It's okay, Tempus. We'll figure out what to do." Arial said, trying her best to calm the other girl down- still not sure if touching was a good idea; they always had to be careful around the other flame monsters in the Underground.

Roman started to fidget again, glancing between to the other two skeletons and Tempus, trying to think of what to do; they usually just had to wait around until their parents came looking for their magic trails to bring them back home; maybe that's what they should do! His face lit up, holding his arms out in excitement to try and get everyone's attention.

"W-well, m-maybe our parents can help!" He seemed pleased with the suggestion, Courier and Arial nodding in agreement. "Grown ups always know how to fix stuff like this." He kept his smile from wavering, even if he was worried for Tempus' sake- it must be really scary for her to be all alone.

"P-plus, we won't go anywhere- we'll stay with you, so you won't be by yourself." Cautiously, Roman held his hand out to Tempus, an attempt to bridge a friendship.

Sniffling, she listened to Roman speak. Could their parents really know what to do in order to help her? Who even were their parents anyways? Tempus was curious, underneath the panic, to know what other skeleton monsters existed in this universe aside from the alternate version of her mother and uncle. 

"Y-you'll really stay with me?" She asked softly before staring at his hand before shakily moving hers. As it got closer to Roman's hand, it felt like moving it closer to a live flame for a moment before she paused, frowning at her own hand and concentrating. The heat dissipated and when she held his hand it was as cool to the touch as his own bone.

Roman gave Tempus' hand a gentle and reassuring squeeze when they met, hoping it would lift her spirits a bit. "Of course we will! Now, c'mon- my dad is super smart and I bet he can get you home super fast. A-and Uncle Night jumps around worlds a lot, too." 

"But, my dads at work, Roman." Courier said, sounding just a bit disappointed as the group started to walk at a snails pace back towards their home.

"Oh, yeah.... That's okay! He should be back soon, then." Roman continued to grin enthusiastically.

Tempus hadn't let go of Roman's hand as they walked forward slowly, the eight year old looking around quietly. This Snowdin seemed to be the same as the others she had seen over her other universe escapades but they didn't seem to have access to the surface. 

With her free hand, she tried to wipe away the gritty soot her tears always left behind after they dried. "You guys... Remind me of my mom and my uncle..." She murmured, looking at the similarities she could spot between Arial and Roman to herself and the things she saw similar to her cousin and Courier.

"We do?" Arial spoke up. "I'd be lying if I didn't say you make me think of dad." She laughed quietly. "And your fire, it looks like Fuku's- its really cool." Again, keeping herself from reaching out to touch it.

Seeing her struggle to wipe her face clean, Courier tugged at the neckerchief around his neck- pulling it loose and gingerly offering it to Tempus. "Here, use this."

Roman had started to bounce happily as the Font home came into view, still never letting go of the smaller skeleton's hand. "There's our house." He pointed at the mildly expanded home, it seemed to have at least three more rooms added to what it would normally have.

"Mhmm!" She nodded before tapping her cheek bone. "Your cheek bones, your whole skulls really, remind me of him!" Her cheeks flushed cyan at the compliment to her fire, smiling a little at Courier when he offered her the neckerchief. "Thank you... You... y-you guys can touch my fire, if you want!" Tempus offered. "It's only hot when I want it to be... or when I'm really scared. I've b-been getting better at controlling it, I haven't burned one of my shirts in weeks!"

Tempus set out to wipe the soot residue from her face while waiting to see if they wanted to try touching her flame, eyes widening when she saw a house she'd only seen before in pictures with a few unfamiliar add-ons to it. "This is... mommy's old house... but bigger..."

Courier sure wasn't going to pass up an offer like that and reaches his hand to slowly pass through the blue flames rising from her skull, giggling as he ran through it a few more times. "Its so cool! I wish I was part fire monster."

"I was thinking the same thing, Tempus!" Arial gasped quietly. Slowly, lines began to connect for the green clad girl, especially after the comment abut their home. She didn't want to assume anything just yet. "You think.... Your mom might be another version of our dads....?"

She had ducked her head to let him touch her flame, giggling a little as someone touching it had always been a vaguely ticklish sensation for her. "It has its cool parts but I can't take bubble baths or go out on rainy days like my older cousin can. I've always wanted to feel the rain..."

At the connection the older girl made had Tempus gasping herself. "Maybe? I've only 'jumped' like this a few times, never on purpose but each time I met a different version of my mom and uncle. I've never met another kid like me though..."

"You really can't touch water? Oh, that's no fun, I'm sorry." Courier frowns slightly, although he would personally prefer if he didn't have to take a bath every night.

"Us neither!" Roman jumps into the conversation as the approach the front door, Courier runs up in front of everyone to open it, courteously bowing to let the others enter first. "If that's r-right, then wouldn't that make us kind of related?" The frail skeleton wondered out loud, tilting his head to the side.

"I think so!" Arial says as she walks into the house, kicking her snow boots off by the couch. "Which is sooooo awesome! It kind of stinks to be stuck in a house full of smelly boys all the time." She giggles, hoping the other girl would understand.

"Well, half siblings at least, if we have the same... mom? dad? uncle? This is confusing..." Tempus rubbed her skull a bit, feeling like she had a headache as she tried to process it and glanced around the unfamiliar house, not entirely sure what to do with herself.

At the comment from Arial, she smiled a little. "Y-yeah! I've never met another girl skeleton before... The only other kid I have to play with is my older cousin, Herculanum, but everyone just calls him Herc. The other kids don't...like me..."

"R-right, half siblings.... That's still really neat!" Roman giggles before gently letting go of Temp's hand to take his own shoes off- plopping down on the floor to tug them off and toss the sneakers to the side. Courier followed suit and then helped Roman back to his feet. "Wait here, I'll g-go and find dad- bet he's napping with pops." The small skeleton made a beeline upstairs, leaving the others in the spacious living room.

"Oh, well, I like you, Tempus!" Arial beams, walking over to her. "He sounds cool! Maybe once we get you home we can meet him." It was really neat to meet another skeleton kid, since the three just had each other.

Her eyes lit up at the thought of the three children coming with her and meeting her older cousin, a wide smile taking over her nervous features. "That'd be a lot of fun!" She was a little surprised at herself at how quickly she was relaxing around these three new people, usually she was painfully shy and it took her ages to open up or relax. 

When the other girl approached, Tempus squinted a bit behind her glasses, glancing up at Arial. "Hey... how old are you guys? I can't tell if we're the same age or not... I wanna say you're older cause you're bigger than me but... a lot of people are usually bigger than me anyways."

"Well, I'm thirteen." Arial puffs her chest out proudly. "And Roman is sixteen, even though he's really small. He's the best big brother, though." Courier joined Tempus' other side, grinning widely.

"I'm eight. How about you, Tempus?" Courier did seem much bigger than a normal kid his age, he was already taller than his oldest cousin, but that wasn't saying much since Roman was really small.

"S-sixteen?" She never would have even guessed the small skeleton was older than her by that much! The thirteen year old she wasn't as shocked by, Arial looked to act the same as Herc who was also thirteen but for Courier to be the same age as her and be so tall... didn't feel very fair.

Tempus pouted a little and ducked her head, swinging a foot back and forth. "I'm eight, my cousin is thirteen." Thinking about it more, she tilted her head. "If Roman is such a big big kid, why is he so small?" The eight year old looked confused. If she remembered her numbers right that meant that he would be in High School! It could be just because she was on the small size herself but all the big kids that went to High School looked huge to her, human and monster alike.

"That's neat, I bet me and him would get a long really well!" Arial grinned wide, braces glinting in the dim living room light. She was really glad that Tempus was beginning to feel a bit more comfortable with them as well, she didn't want her to be scared even if the situation was uncomfortable.

"And Roman is small because our dad was in an accident, so he was born really early. You saw the big crack in his skull? That's because of the accident." The elder skeleton explained like the story was common knowledge. Courier awkwardly scuffed his socked feet on the ground, knowing the full details of what happened that were being left out.

"Okay, okay, Roman- slow down, I'm coming down." A voice called from upstairs as said mentioned skeleton nearly tumbled back down the staircase to rejoin the others, laughing the entire way.

Tempus glanced between the two skeleton children, feeling she was missing a piece of the story but didn't ask since she didn't feel it was really her place. She had indeed noticed the large crack down one side of Roman's face but had assumed it was from some sort of accident like her Grandfather's skull cracks were from and didn't want to be rude by assuming anything or asking. "M-my grandpa has cracks in his skull too so I didn't want to be mean by asking..."

At the sound of the new, unfamiliar voice, the young skeleton's demeanor changed entirely, looking just as fearful and nervous as when the trio first found her. For a moment, it was rather warm around Tempus before she wrestled her flame back under control. Squeaking, she hid behind the two taller skeleton children.

Arial seemed to tense up a bit at the mention of a grandpa, fear only washing over her form for a few seconds before regaining her calm composure. Courier did notice how nervous Tempus got when his uncle spoke from upstairs, taking a shielding spot in front of her in an attempt to hide her just a little bit.

"It's okay, Tempus- Roman really doesn't mind people asking." He assured her. The group turned their attention upwards as Blue let out a loudly obnoxious, and albeit unnecessary yawn, as he slowly began to descend the stairs.

"Now, what did you need to show me, kiddo?"

The lazy skeleton just stared at the grouping of children as he was half way down the staircase- he could have easily missed out on the smallest one hidden behind the group, that is if it wasn't for the rising blue flames that popped up behind them. He blinked once, then twice- that was another skeleton child, and as far as Blue knew, they only had three kids- and there weren't any other skeletons in this universe.

"Well- hello there." Blue said softly as he got to the bottom floor, part of him making a mental note to scold the kids for universe hopping again.

Now that she was hyper-actively listening to the stranger's voice, she was able to note how he sounded exactly like her mother, and yet not. The voice was the same, as was the way he spoke- he sounded just like her mother did after being woken up from a nap and being tugged along before he was completely awake. Tempus wanted to shrink down as small as possible and never be found, her bones even rattling a tad from her fear.

"Don't find me, don't find me, please don't find me..." She whispered to herself

The kids didn't seem to be too willing to move from their protective shield around Tempus, more than noticing her fear and hearing how scared she was now- maybe this wasn't the brightest idea, to just throw her in, but they didn't have any one else to turn to at the moment.

Blue approached the grouping, towering over them and definitely seeing the smaller, shivering skeleton; she looked absolutely terrified- so maybe it wasn't his kids this time world jumping, or else they'd be the ones trembling.

"Hm.... And who would this be?" He asked, trying to keep his tone calm as to not scare her even further.

Tempus shrunk down more even as her flames rose in tandem to her panic. There was no heat, not yet, not when she was still hyper aware of the other skeleton children in front of her that could be hurt, but if she panicked anymore it would become too much for her to control anymore.

"Don't hurt m-me!" She sobbed.

"Whoah, whoah, it's okay- I'm not gonna' hurt you, little bones." Blue held his hands up in defense, crouching down in front of the tiny skeleton barricade, trying to make himself seem smaller and less intimidating to the scared girl.

"It's okay, I'm just here to help." Or he assumed that's why, because Roman seemed all to enthusiastic in his explanation 'of another kid from another world being there and they needed to go home' or something along those lines- him and Red were half asleep during the whole babbling talk.

Hiccuping, she opened her eyes to peer between her faithful wall's legs and was met by her mother's face. She froze, for a moment feeling like she'd just woken up from a nightmare and hidden under her bed, only for her mother to come and pull her out and make her feel okay again. Then the moment was gone and she was back in the here and now staring down a skeleton who was a stranger and yet wasn't.

"Y-you're not gonna hurt me?" She sniffled, once again having twin soot trails down her skull.

"Who would want to hurt a tiny thing like you?" He tried offering her a soft smile and small chuckle. "Hey, how about I get all you kids a snack? Maybe that'll help you feel better too, sweetie." Blue wanted to help calm the girl down in some way, make her feel a bit more comfortable in some way. 

The other children seemed to be excited at the mention of food, because that always meant sweets with Blue. Though, they still weren't sure if moving from their place was a good idea yet, Tempus was still really scared.

"H-hey, Tempus- my dad just wants to help!" Roman turned to her, flashing the flame-skeleton a smile, then adding on quietly- as if it wouldn't be heard by everyone else in the room. "He's too lazy to h-hurt anyone, hehe."

Tempus seemed to relax when Blue left the room, slowly uncurling from her crouched down position as she sniffled, already feeling horrible embarrassed at her natural reaction to strangers in front of her new possible friends. She hated when she did that, just lock up in total fear. She didn't have a reason for it, as far as she'd been told she'd been this shy ever since she was a baby bones.

"I-I'm sorry..." She murmured. "I just... get so scared a-around new people... Usually I have Herc, or my mom, or my dad, my uncle- someone! To help me not be so..." Tempus gestured to the floor where she'd been curled up. "...That."

"Well, how about we help then?" Arial turns around to face Tempus again. "We're not Herc... Or your mom or dad, but we.... Are kind of family?" By weird universe standards, they actually were, and Arial really didn't want Temp to be scared anymore. "What do they usually do to help you not feel so bad?"

She started rocking herself just a tad without really realizing it as she tried to think, rubbing at her eyes again with her sleeve. "Um... well lately, my mom takes me out and has me practice my magic when I get too nervous. My dad would take me into the kitchen and let me help him make things... Herc would make up a story and tell me it..."

"Then how about after we eat, we go throw some magic around!" Arial suggested, sounding eager to do so, then Courier butted in- knowing that was a bad idea for them to just go do that willy-nilly without supervision.

"Or! We can wait til' my dad gets home and help him cook dinner instead- that way we don't get in trouble, Arial." 

"Good idea, Courier." Blue reentered the living room, carrying a tray with cinnamon bunnies on it.

"Dinner...?" Tempus sounded worried. She had no idea if time flowed here the same pace it did back in her own universe and all she could think about was her mother frantically trying to find her. She stiffened again when Blue came back into the room, bones rattling from nerves and fear since she was no longer covered by the trio of skeletons.

"N-no, don't worry, Tempus!" Roman said, noticing her sudden change in demeanor again, stepping into her line of sight. "Once we calm down, I-I'm sure my dad can get you h-home right away!" His eyes flicked towards Blue, sending him a hopeful look that the older skeleton would be able to do it.

"Right, Rome; hey, why don't you get- Tempus, was your name?" Blue tried to make sure he got that right. "Grab a bunny, and hop up in Night's recliner? It's an emergency, so I don't think he'll mind." Blue chuckles softly, holding the tray out for the kids to reach the sweets.

"R-really? Oh, come on Temp- Uncle Night's chair is sooooo comfortable!" Roman said, giggling as he grabbed a cinnamon bunny for them both, offering it to her so she didn't have to get too close to Blue.

She nodded to confirm her name, eyeing Blue nervously as she took the offered bunny from Roman and nibbled at it. Funny, they weren't as sweet as she was used to. Tempus wondered if there were other small differences in this universe from her own. "I don't get to e-eat Cinnabunnies very much." She confessed. "My mom says that Mrs. Bunny's store is so much popular up top than it was in Snowdin that she runs out fast every day. My daddy sometimes goes early to get me and Herc some though..."

She paused a bit before she took her next bite. "... Did you call me 'Temp'?" The girl sounded more surprised than upset.

"Up top, hm?" Blue repeats quietly, coming to the conclusion that she must come from a universe where the monsters made it to the surface- part of him wasn't surprised to hear that Usako's treats were popular there. Part of him was curious and wanted to ask questions but, he also didn't want to make Tempus nervous again. He just continued to smile as Roman gently took the girl's hand again, starting to pull her towards the recliner.

"Y-yeah, I-I'm sorry if you don't want me to call you th-that." Roman said, frowning behind the bunny as he bit into it. He paused to hop up on the chair, scooting over so there was more than enough room for her to sit beside him.

"No, no! It's o-okay! It's just... that's the nickname my family calls me." She said, pausing to climb the chair and sit next to him. "But it's okay because... we're technically family, right? Half siblings?" In truth, Tempus had always wanted 'more' older siblings since Herc was already more her brother than he was her cousin. Trying to turn her mind from home lest she got all sad again, she bit into her bunny and hummed. "Missing something..."

She turned her eyes down to the bunny in her hands and concentrated. Roman would be able to feel heat coming off of her briefly in a controlled manner before dying off completely. The bunny in her hands was a darker color, burnt at the tips. Smiling, she bit into it with a crunch, swinging her feet. "Always tastes better a little b-burnt!" Must have been her Fire monster half showing its influence. "Herc always thought that was weird."

"R-right!" Roman nods happily, glad she wasn't upset at the name shortening. He did blink curiously when the heat began to radiate from her, almost bringing a yawn out of him from the comfortable warmth. When he saw the bunny now was slightly charred, Roman's eyes went big- awestruck.

"W-wow, that was s-so cool! A-and I've never had a burned cinnabunny before, but it can't be bad if you l-like it. I bet it tastes g-good!" Arial and Courier had climbed into the couch right beside the recliner, happily munching on their treats as well, while Blue watched over them all from his spot- leaned on the kitchen door frame- with a curious smile of his own.

He had been churning over thoughts in his mind; apparently Tempus had to be some other version of him self's daughter, but he seemed to be having a tough time figuring who the other parent could be- there were so many flame monsters in the Underground, so that left a lot of possibilities. Not that it really mattered in the end, but it was nagging.

"My dad says its an acquired taste, like pine cones. He loves pine cones. I like chewing on bark better though, kind of like chewing on jerky!" Pine cones weren't found often in the underground, and if they were, they were primarily from Snowdin Forest's trees. Not many Fire Monsters lived in Snowdin to acquire a lasting taste and preference for pine cones.

Tempus took another bite of her treat and hummed. "Maybe I can bring my daddy back some pine cones... He says surface ones don't taste the same like the ones from Snowdin Forest. He said those were his favorite snacks whenever he had a 'break' at his restaurant." The child was slowly calming down and relaxing, revealing more about herself without really realizing it. She was clearly born from the surface, the child of a Sans, and had a fire monster as her other parent who enjoyed cooking.

"That's what we can do then, Tempus!" Arial jumped in, seeming excited to finally have figured out something to do. "All the trees behind our house are always dropping pinecones, I'm sure your dad would love if you brought him back some!" She nearly shoved Courier off the couch when she tried to lean over the arm of the chair in her excitement, only to have him shove her back with a complaining grunt.

Blue had been so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear everything Tempus had been saying about her other parent- but had been brought out of his head-space when a door opened and closed above their heads. Another loud, almost identical to his own, yawn came from upstairs before it's owner decided to come down.

Red hadn't paid any mind to the buzzing kids as he made his way into the kitchen, coming back out to lean on Blue while idly drinking a bottle of mustard. His eyes finally did catch the fire child, and even in his half-awake state, put everything together in an instant. "So, w-when did the you and Grillby love-child get here?"

His comment caused Blue to sputter loudly, almost falling over in shock- at the comment, and also at himself for not getting it that quickly. Blue quietly excused himself back into the kitchen while Red had to hold himself up my the door frame so he didn't double over in laughter.

"Sorry about them, Tempus- my uncles are weird." Courier quietly apologized for the adults' antics, finishing his bunny.

"B-but, is it true? I-is Grillby your d-dad?" Roman asked, stars practically popping up in his eyes; Grillby was one of his favorite people in the entire Underground, and if his 'half-sibling' was related to him, that would just make his day!

Tempus had been about to agree that collecting pine cones for her dad sounded like a great idea and that maybe she could find things to take back for all her family members when Red came down from upstairs. She looked very confused to see another version of Blue/her mother coming down. She'd met two other 'versions' of her mother before the first incident she had with her powers glitching out and sending her universe hopping but never two in the same place. 

She quickly put together that both versions of her mother must be the parents of Roman and Arial, even though it didn't add up right when she put it up against her basic (very basic, she was only eight after all) knowledge of how babies were made. Wasn't it bad if two people who were related (or in this case, the same, literally) had baby monsters? She seemed to puzzle over it before her face smoothed out with a smile. She knew now! That was what she knew about human genetics! Monsters must be different.

Her mind now put at ease after jumping through a few hoops, Tempus smiled at Roman and nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Grillby is my daddy. I love him very much."

"That's s-so cool! Grillby is one of the c-coolest monsters in Snowdin! W-well, not so cool 'cus he's made of fire, but...." Roman still bounced in the chair a little bit, shoving the last of the cinnabunny into his mouth with a grin. "W-we should go by and see him and give him some pine cones, t-too! You'll get to see his restaurant, t-too, if that's o-okay with you." He wasn't sure now that he'd said it, maybe it would make Tempus sad again.

Blue came back out of the kitchen after getting over his little episode, hearing the tail end of Roman's suggestion.

"Maybe y-you kids should just get some for her Grillby and not worry about ours for now- we really should get Tempus home before her family gets worried about her being gone." He says, Red nodding in agreement.

"If I know Blue, or any version of him and m-myself, then I'm sure her Sans is already panicking." Red says, finishing his mustard then quietly pocketing his hands. "C'mon, while Blue tries to find her magic trail, I'll w-watch over while you guys collect some 'cones."

"Okay, dad!" Arial hops off the couch, Courier following after as they crowded near the recliner to help Roman and Tempus off.

She hadn't looked so sure about visiting this universe's version of her dad. While the various versions of her mother didn't seem to question much that for the most part she was theirs, she wasn't sure if other versions of her father would do the same. Plus it would probably just make Tempus feel more homesick...

At the mention of how worried her mother must be, her face fell and she nervously crackled the bones in her hands for the noise. She hated making her parents worry, hated that she had such little control over this aspect of her powers and magic.

Quiet again, she hopped down from the chair after she finished munching on her bunny and murmuring something about it needing hot sauce.

This time it was Courier's turn to take a hold of Tempus' hand with both of his, eager smile spread across his face. "Don't be sad, Tempus! You're gonna' be home really soon, and you'll have a great present to give your dad, too!"

He started to gently pull her towards the front door, Arial and Roman right behind them one their shoes were back on. Rad trudged up, lazily throwing on his black coat and sneakers, not bothering to tie them, before opening the door.

"Just to the back yard guys, no w-wandering off where I can't see you." He quietly warned as the kids started to exit.

Though she didn't say anything, Tempus smiled at the taller skeleton in thanks. Curious, she looked around as she was shown to their backyard, mostly looking up. As panicked as she had been the first time she had universe jumped (and subsequently lost her glasses) she hadn't had a chance to take in her surroundings, take in the Underground. Having been born on the surface years after the Monster's release from their prison, she had mostly only seen the place in pictures.

"No sun... no sky... no stars " She murmured to herself, having slowed down and ended up closer to Red than she realized. "No wonder everyone wanted to get out..."

"W-we still do." Red commented quietly, following Temp's gaze upwards- though the ceiling was highest in Snwodin, you could still see the rocky overhead when the snow clouds would clear. "Bet it's nice on the surface." 

Courier pulled on Temp's hand, trying to draw her attention to the treeline right behind the house- Arial had run ahead of them all and was using her magic to shake a tree to try and knock some fresh pine cones off of it, Roman doing his best to catch them before the fell and hit the ground, laughing all the while.

"How many do you think your dad would like?"

She had startled a little when she heard Red speak, looking nervous before nodding a little. "The sun is so warm and breezes feel nice. I... I've never been in it but, I hear rain is nice too." Tempus gasped when she was pulled forward and suddenly watching the two siblings trying to get pine cones from trees.

"My dad would like any he could get, so I don't know a specific number... How are you doing that, Arial? Shaking the tree?"

"Okay, well, let's all fill our inventory then! That should be enough, right?" Courier giggled as they got up to the tree with the other skeleton kids.

"Oh, with magic!" Arial stops, the green glow around the tree disappearing for a moment. "I just think really hard about holding it and...." Doing just that, the tree started to glow green again, shaking slightly. "And done! I'm still learning how to use it, but I can do simple stuff like this." 

"Can you do any magic, Temp?" Courier asks, leaning down to pick up several pine cones. "I can only summon little bones, but it's really hard to do that."

"Well, I can do some... the 'jumping' obviously, even though I have no control over it yet. The only other thing I can do so far is..." Tempus frowned and put her hands out, palm up, as she began to concentrate. Soon enough she had a decent sized bone in each hand, if thin looking. After another pause, they abruptly lit on fire that was the same color as the flame on her head.

"Ooooh!" Stars appeared in Courier's eyes as he watched the flaming bones in Temp's hands in amazement, pine cones listlessly falling from his arms into a pile on the ground. "That's so awesome! My bones are so tiny compared to those, and you can set them on fire!"

"Be careful, guys!" Red calls out to the kids when they started playing with their magic. Roman just waved at his dad to show that they were listening to him and joined Courier.

"All I have is my b-blasters! But I can't control them, th-they're like big doggies." He comments quietly, watching the fire rise from the bones in awe.

"They're not that cool..." Tempus said, blushing deeply. "My cousin's is way cooler, his can be charged with electricity and Uncle Metta says that he might be able to make them ghostly in the future and be selective with them! Mine just... get hotter the longer I hold them." What she was saying was true, the flames coating the bone were beginning to turn a hotter purple color. "I can't even really aim them that well... or really get rid of them."

Walking in a direction where none of them were standing, Red included, she stuck them in a larger pile of snow... which promptly melted from the heat. She stepped back quick enough so the sudden water didn't hurt her but it melted a good sized circle around the bones until they were extinguished. "My daddy says I might eventually be able to control their heat like I do my own fire."

Walking back over, she gave Roman a curious look. "Blasters? What are those?"

"Are your parents gonna' teach you how to use your magic? My dad's says he's gonna' start teaching me soon!" Courier bounces in place, watching as Tempus goes to put her bone flames out. 

"Oh, my blasters! Uh...." Roman closed his eyes for a moment, and with a spark of purple magic, two medium sized Gaster Blasters popped up behind him; one of which had just a few more spikes coming from it's head. "Th-these guys! This one is Delgado." Roman reaches out to gently pat the spiked blaster's head.

"A-and this is Opus! I-I can't control them, th-though." He said, patting the other blasters muzzle.

"My mom said he was gonna start teaching me soon, yeah." Tempus nodded. "He said he wants to show me things like blue attacks and stuff and some...thing..." Her voice slowed and stopped as Roman summoned his Gaster Blasters. There was a moment or two of silence as she stared, slack jawed, at them and it was uncertain whether she was reacting negatively or positively. 

At least until her pupils went starry. 

"Oh...stars!" She dashed forward towards them, flame flickering too and fro brightly as a sign of her excitement. "These are so cool! What do they do? Why is one spikey? Is this magic from your dads, inherited?" Tempus paused with a gasp, starry eyes becoming wider. "Maybe this is what mommy hopes I don't set on fire!"

"Y-yeah, I think my d-dad said something about me getting them from them. They just popped up one day when I w-was a baby." He says, Delgado stares back at Tempus before floating over to gently nudge her arm.

"Probably." Red calls out as he slowly approaches the group. "I'd be pretty scared of you summoning flaming Gaster Blaster's if I w-were him, and I am." He was partly worried about what the blasters would do with Tempus, but seemed pleased when Delgado started being sweet- he's normally the protective one. 

Arial joined the rest, arms completely filled to the brim with pine cones, more than enough to fill their inventories, and dropped them in a pile on the ground. "There we go!"

"That means I might be able to do it someday! Not soon though, these seem like strong magic... Wait- Gaster Blasters are what they're called?" If possible, her eyes got wider. "That means grandpa has them too! I wonder if Uncle Papy does! Then Herc might be able to do it too! Maybe his will be electrified..." Tempus giggled when the spikey blaster nudged at her, petting his head. 

When Arial brought over the pinecones, she picked one up. "Pine cones! Watch this!" Holding the pine cone in both hands, she began to concentrate, letting her heat pick up at a fast rate. In her hands, the pine cone began to open up and 'bloom' in her hands. After it was mostly opened, she let her heat die down and tilted the now opened and roasted cone in her hand to pop out the roasted pine nuts that had been inside the pine cone. "Ta da! A treat for you and a treat for me!" Still offering the pine nuts to them, she took a bite out of the pine cone itself and hummed. "Needs hot sauce..."

"Oh, that's so awesome!" Courier beamed and each of the kids gently plucked a few of the nuts from Temp's hand, nibbling on them. "I've never had these before! Hehe, tastes like a tree." He giggled, gold tongue poking out of his mouth, the tip getting mildly numb at the nuts flavor.

"I think we have some in the house!" Arial pipes up, having gotten her fill of the nuts, Roman taking the last of them to slowly eat them with a grin. "I think we got plenty of pine cones to take back with us.... I wonder how much longer it will be before dad can get you home?"

"Not too m-much longer, sure it would go a lot faster if Night was helping him, but he'll get it d-done." Red said, idly scratching the top of Opus' head.

"Whenever my daddy and I get pine cones, we roast them together and let my mommy have the roasted nuts since he won't eat the cone. Don't know why though, it's pretty tasty to me! I still prefer wood chips though. He also always likes to make this pun with my name whenever we do it too..."

Tempus glanced over at Red a few times and took a deep breath before taking another one of the pine cones and repeating the process from before. Getting more pine nuts from it, she edged forward until she was close enough to Red to offer them. "You... y-you, um, didn't get any from the first batch... and it's a-always nice to share with Everyone ..." She wasn't looking him in the eye, rather, the snow, but it was progress for her when before Blue terrified the crap out of her.

"Oh...." Red looked down at her, then gave Tempus a smile as he gently took the nuts from her hand. "Well, thank you, Tempus." Red leaned against Opus lazily as he popped one after another into his mouth, much like the kids, never having had pine nuts before, finding the taste.... Interesting to say the least. As he munched on the nuts, slowly figuring out what the flame girl said and had to take a second to try and not 'choke' on the small snack.

"Tempus- Temp- Temperature-" The kids only just stared at Red when he realized the pun, sputtering in laughter for the second time since he woke up. "I-I need to shake your mom's h-hand, that's the best!"

She had smiled a little when he'd taken the nuts from her and looked like she was working up the nerve to say something when he choked and began to laugh as he figured out the pun of her name. Tempus sighed a little and nodded, but she didn't seem upset at the pun being brought up. "Y-yeah, that's the pun. I don't mind it, I like puns, especially my mommy's! He just says it whenever he gets the chance and it gets old."

" Apparently he's super proud he managed to 'slip it past' Uncle Papy?" Which could only mean that her mother had tried to give her many different other names that were also puns but was stopped by... the entire family really, except for maybe Herc.

"Because it's such a good one!" Red managed through fading chuckles, wiping a stray tear from his eye. "I'd be proud of myself as well." Roman finished the pine nuts in his had, now understanding the joke, but only rolls his eyes.

"It's okay, Temp- my dad d-does the same thing with my full name when ever h-he can." The purple clad skeleton said, seeming to wince at the memory, not being overly fond of his full name it seems. 

"Just get with the Times New Roman." Arial whispered and giggled quietly, knowing her brother would hear. His face dusts light magenta in embarrassment, chest puffing up as he pouts.

"Arial!" That was the only way they could joke with his name, and it always embarrassed him.

"Times New Roman is your full name?" She asked, sounding curious. Smiling, Tempus lightly bumped shoulders with him. "It's okay, I like being called Temp or Tempus rather than Tempus Sans , less of a mouthful and getting confused with my mom." "Besides, I like your full name! Sounds like it has..." She paused, trying to think of the right word. "Style! Class! Like a gentleman." She grinned up at him.

"Y-y-you really th-think s-so?" Romans face was still flushed and Red reached out to rub the top of his head affectionately. 

"C'mon, don't think w-we'd give you a bad punny n-name, Roman." Red seemed to soften, mind going back to the origins of his name- not that they had originally intended his name to have a pun twist to it to begin with.

"Y-yeah.... Hehe, thank y-you for the compliment, Temp." He giggled bashfully, kicking at the snow on the ground.

Blue shuffled out into the back yard to rejoin the skeleton congregation, now dressed in his signature jacket and shoes. "How'd the pine cone hunting go, guys?"

She'd grinned at him, happy to make him smile and feel at least a little better about his name. Tempus was used to getting odd looks about her name, her cousin as well, since to humans having names after Fonts made little to no sense. She and Herc often took turns cheering each other up about their names and making each other feel better about it.

When Blue came into the backyard, for a moment, all Tempus saw was the familiar jacket and face. She turned to him and, smile still on her face, started to walk towards him but remembered mid step where she was and the greeting died in her throat, smile fading and flame dimming. It wasn't her mother. 

Retreating a bit back into her shell, she seemed to steel herself before finishing the walk over to Blue and shakily holding her hand up with the rest of the roasted pine nuts. "D-do you... u-um do you want some p-p-pine nuts um..." She didn't seem to know what to call him, it would feel too weird to call him by his name and she didn't know his nickname like the other adults did. "S-sir?"

"You can call me Blue- everyone else does." Blue chuckles as he politely took the rest of the pine nuts from her hand, happily pocketing them before popping one into his mouth with a lazy grin. "Thank you, Tempus." He tried to sound as genuine as possible to try and help ease her- not to scare the timid child any more than he already had today.

"D-dad!" Roman's face broke into a wide smile, running over to join Tempus' side- seeming to be his favorite place as of late. "We found a ton of pine cones! D-did you come to help us?"

"Nah, buddy, turns out this lil' girl's magic is pretty strong for someone her age- it was easy enough for me to track down her time line by her magic trail." Blue said. "You ready to gather up all those pine cones and head back home?"

Home. Tempus seemed to perk up just at the mention of it before pausing, turning to take Roman's hand. "Can... c-can you all come with? Since you all know how to do this so easily I-it'd be fun to show you guys where I live t-too...!" She didn't want to lose the first friends she's made in absolute ages, not just because they were 'half siblings' either.

"I k-know Herc would wanna meet you guys! I could s-show you the stars, the moon..." She said to Roman before turning her best pleading gaze to Blue and Red. "A-and I know my mommy would wanna talk to you guys too, thank y-you for helping me get home!"

"Can we, d-dad!?" Roman perks up, rocking excitedly beside Tempus- Courier and Arial bound over to join in the buzzing excitement, just as badly wanting to see the surface. "Please, please, p-please!" 

"Hehe, calm down, guys." Blue said, as the kids crowed in front of him and Red. He turned to look at the other adult, almost defeated smile forming on his face. "What do you think, Red?" Red could only shrug his shoulders in response, knowing neither of them had the heart to tell the kids 'no'.

"I guess our hands are tied. Looks like w-we'll give Tempus' world a short visit, then. Go get your p-pine cones, guys." Blue chuckled quietly, Roman starting to pull Tempus- and the other two skelekids- back to the large pile to try and grab as many as their inventories could hold.

"This is going to be great!" Arial bounces. Courier seemed to be happy, but part of him was sad that his dad's couldn't join them to see the surface- maybe they could go back and visit one day so they could! The thought perked him up a little as he picked up the pine cones.

"Y-you think your cousin will like u-us?" Roman asked.

Tempus gave a relieved and excited smile, easily allowing herself to be pulled by the older skeleton back to their pine cone pile. "Y-yeah! Herc likes just about everyone w-who's nice and stuff, he's like Uncle Papy in that way, I think. Oh!!" She suddenly clapped. "If it's late enough by the time we g-get home you guys could probably s-stay for dinner! My d-daddy is the best cook!" Had to be in order to run a popular Monster restaurant and bar on the Surface.

"There is gonna be so much to show you!" Temp sing songed as she picked up as many pine cones as she could for her father. "I wonder if your dads will let us have a sleep over..."

"I bet he's even better after being on the surface, too!" Arial beams, their Grillby was already a fantastic cook- and the surface probably offered a wider selection from him to work with, so there's no telling what he can do up top. The kids seemed to just get more and more excited as Tempus spoke, and at the thought of a sleep over? 

"Dad-" Roman shouted, eyes sparkling bright- that sounded like it would be so much fun!

"Now, now, guys- don't get too excited; I know seeing the surface will be fun and all, but we just need to get Tempus home. Maybe we'll be able to visit again later down the line, but no sleep overs just yet." Blue cut the eldest child off, who only just puffed his cheek bones out in a pout.

"C'mon, let's get ready to m-make the jump; we'll spend a little time in her world, then get back- don't want our bros' freaking out about us being gone too long." Red chuckles, waving a hand to try and call the kids over.

Tempus deflated a little when the idea of a sleep over was shot down quickly but perked up after only a moment. It wasn't like this was going to be the last time they saw each other, right? Their parents had the power to 'jump' so they could take them if they asked and if she worked hard enough she might be able to master the power herself in order to visit or take them back with her for trips! Maybe there was even a way for them to send letters to each other, she did love getting mail.

When the other version of her mother (If Blue was called so because of his magic and eye color, did that mean that this one was called 'Red'? It would make sense to her, at least) called for them to come over, Temp paused to make sure she had a decent amount of pine cones before hurrying over and tugging Roman with her by the hand.

Arial and Courier tailed right behind Tempus and Roman as they all scurried over to join the Sanses; Roman stood tall beside Blue and grabbed his hand with his own free one, making a small chain between the three, and the other two kids took a hold of Red's.

The adult skeletons finished the chain and Blue just smiled.

"Alright, everyone holding on tight?" Once he was positive the group was ready, Blue closed his eye sockets; concentrating his magic as light cyan slowly trickled and engulfed everyone. With a few seconds of sparks, the group disappeared.


	2. A whole new World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the Kid's half of this part of the RP. I had to separate it because the two conflicting stories didn't flow together very well.

Tempus shut her eyes tightly as the magic engulfed them, finding it eerie how her Soul wanted to recognize it as her mother's for how similar it felt but there was just enough difference for it to throw her off stride. 

When they were solid again, the change in atmosphere was immediate. There was a breeze of fresh air and she felt warmed than she had before. When she opened her eyes she saw it was Twilight, the sun was setting. She could recognize the area she was around, a sparse forest not too far from her home. "Home... I'm home!" She cheered.

When everyone got their wits about them, the rest of the skeleton group stood there in awe, just taking in the surroundings. The hand holding Tempus' tightened reflexively, Roman's eyes were cast upwards- staring at the subtly setting sun, his pupil huge.

"Wh-what i-is that?" His usually upbeat voice came out small- sounding intimidated and amazed at the same time.

She perked up to attention when her hand was squeezed, turning to look at him with a bright smile. "That? Roman, that's the sun! It's setting right now but usually it's very bright in the sky and warm! And if we turn around..." Tempus did so, grinning when in the growing darkened parts of the sky there were pin pricks of light beginning to appear. "The first stars of the night are coming to play!"

Roman turned with her, not wanting to move his eyes from their fixated gaze on the sun- almost as if he looked away it would disappear and never come back. He reluctantly faced the other way, everyone else following suit.

A chorus of gasps was what came out in response to seeing the first stars of the night; the first twinkling flecks of light hanging in the sky, looking much like the caves of Waterfall, but also being completely different.

"S-stars....." Roman- Arial and Courier alike- had hilarious imitating stars in their own eyes as they watched the sky slowly darken to reveal the blanket of lights above their heads. Red and Blue had moved closer, almost basking in the sight with one another, pulling the kids as they all watched the sky intently.

"Th-they're so pretty.... Th-th.... Thank y-you, Tempus...." Roman managed to stutter out in his amazement.

Her smile dimmed a little, looking confused at the thanks. "Thank you? I don't know why you're thanking me, I should be the one thanking you all, you guys got me home!" Tempus seemed to be opening up again now that she was in her home universe and in her element. "Come on, more stars will appear the darker it gets- but I know the way home from here! My mommy might even meet us half way if he felt us coming through your magic-"

"Tempus?" There was a distant cry from a voice sounding exactly like Blue's, if perhaps a bit younger. The young monster spun around towards the sound and beamed. "That's him!" Taking a few steps forward, she cupped her hands around her mouth and called. "Mommy! I'm over here!"

There was a pop noise as Sans seemed to take a short cut directly in front of his daughter once he had it pinned where she was and instantly scooped her up into his arms, hugging her tightly. "Tempus... Oh thank the stars you're alright..." He hadn't seemed to notice the other family just yet, too caught up in the fact his little girl was safe.

Roman was about to continue speaking until he felt the jarring familiarity of the other Sans' magic pop up and watched as Tempus was snatched up into a warm embrace. Now it was his turn to be struck by the eeriness of seeing another, almost carbon copy, of his dad. 

Everyone else turned when Tempus started yelling and blinked in surprise at the new Sans. They all stayed quiet to allow the reunited family have their moment in peace.

"Sorry if we kept her too long, you've got one heck of a kid there, though, buddy." Blue finally spoke up, smiling softly at the scene, reaching out to gently pull Roman back towards himself and the others.

Opening his eyes quickly at what sounded like his own voice talking to him, Sans looked shocked for only a moment before he put the pieces together as to what must have happened. He pulled away to gently touch foreheads with his daughter, grinning at her. "You universe jumped and brought things home with you this time, huh?" 

Her grin matching his own, Tempus nodded eagerly and wiggled until she was put down, dashing over to the family. "Uh huh! They found me and helped me get home! Mommy, this is Roman, Arial, Courier, Blue, and um... Red?" She introduced them all in turn, faltering a bit with Red since he'd never really introduced himself to her but took a stab in the dark that if Blue was called so because of his eyes and magic then the other Sans was called Red for the same reasons. 

Sans looked over at them and seemed to be analyzing what he saw before him. Two versions of himself that stood near each other like he stood near Grillby, two children that looked remarkably like himself and his two counterparts, and a child that looked like his brother. Huh. He wondered how the genetics worked out in that. Stepping forward, he offered a hand to either of the adults first with an easy going smile. "Well, then, it's nice to meet you all, especially if you guys helped get my girl home."

"Would never have a problem seeing a kids get back to their family, especially not one of my own." Blue mirrored the smile, shaking the hand offered, Red following right after- a nervous smile of his own peeking across his face. Now that Tempus had been placed back on the ground, Roman had reclaimed his spot beside the fire girl- obviously having grown very fond of her.

"And the pleasure is ours- Tempus has been great and plus...." His eyes flicked towards the sky momentarily before returning back to Sans. ".... We're getting to see the surface because of her.... So, it's been quite the experience on our part."

Sans felt his face fall at the mention of seeing the surface. "The loops? Still Underground?" His tone was sympathetic. He was beyond happy that neither his daughter nor his nephew had been born underground, trapped behind that horrible barrier. That they had always known the warmth of the sun on their faces and the cool night breeze under the stars.

Tempus tugging his hand snapped him out of it, having gone back to holding Roman's hand. "Mommy! We should take them to our house!" She said excitedly, bouncing on her feet. "They can meet Herc, and see the moon, oh, and taste daddy's cooking!" She seemed to suddenly remember something. "We brought daddy pine cones!!"

Sans couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his daughter this energetic or excited around others outside of the family (Or were they technically family?) and couldn't bare to deny her anything after having been so scared about losing her once she'd gone off the radar.

"Well... I'll have to call ahead and tell Grilbz to really up the portions and call your uncles and grandpa back from searching for you but, I think we can manage it." He winked at her and Tempus cheered, swinging the hand that held Roman's around. "If that's what you all want to do, of course." He addressed the last part to the family.

"Hey, so long as we're not imposing, that sounds like it would be n-nice." Red said, part of him was curious at the mention of 'Grandpa'- only assuming it could be Gaster. Blue seemed to have thought the same thing and they both shared a worried look at Arial before looking back at Sans.

"Does that sound good to you guys?" Blue asked the kids, who all nodded enthusiastically. "Guess that's the green light, we'll follow you." Not sure if he was going to use a short cut or just walk.

"Alright then, I'll make the calls and we'll go." Sans stepped away for a moment for privacy and pulled out a modern looking cell phone beginning to call up his family and spread the word that the youngest member of their family was okay. During this, to pass the time, Tempus began to exactly point out each star to them and tell them the names if she recognized them. 

By the time she'd pointed out the beginnings of the Big Dipper, Sans came back up to the group. "The fam is thrilled Temp is back and okay and are making their way home." He put his hands on his daughter's shoulder who then offered her own hands to any of the children. It seemed they would be teleporting.

The other kids kept on rambling out questions about the stars and listening intently as Tempus spoke about the constellations, absolutely engrossed in everything she had to say. Their attention was dragged away when Sans returned, them showing mild disappointment that the star gazing was over for the time being.

Of course Roman was the first to jump on taking her offered hand, turning to snag Courier's- then everyone else completing the chain down the line.

Blue and Red both nodded when they were sure everyone was connected well enough to make the short jump.

Sans took a deep breath, starting to focus and build his magic up. It had been awhile since he'd teleported this many monsters at once. The last time he had been 'porting large groups had been when he had agreed to help monster families move to the surface, which was over thirteen years ago now. He knew he could still do it, he was just a bit rusty.

After a minute or two, his blue magic circled around them and between once blink and the next, they were in front of a large house that seemed warm and inviting, lit up brightly from the inside now that the sun had set completely. Sans rubbed his skull, feeling a slight headache coming on but glad he'd gotten everyone there safely.

The front door opened and a head with dark messy hair poked out to see where the light had come from. Upon spotting Tempus by her flame, the observer gasped and darted out, tackle hugging her to the ground. "TEMP! YOU'RE HOME!" Judging by the combination of metal and bones that made up the boy who seemed to be around Arial's age, it must have been this Universe's Papyrus' son, Herculanum.

"Hercy!" The girl giggled, hugging her cousin tightly. "How could you jump again like that without meeeee!" The now identified cousin whined just a bit as they rubbed foreheads. "I didn't mean toooo!" She whined in return. "I brought new friends back, though! If you get off of me you could meet them?"

The way the two interacted they seemed close enough to be siblings rather than cousins. At the mention of new people, Herc looked up from his cousin and spotted the family. Grinning easily and not seeming to notice (or care) that the situation he'd stuck himself and Tempus in could be embarrassing, he bounced up to his feet and flung his arms open wide. "Welcome then, new friends!" His tone was friendly and welcoming, reminiscent of Papyrus.

Once everyone had gathered themselves from the second short jump, they watched the adorable display between the cousins with chuckles and giggles; they really did seem more like siblings than cousins- much like the other Font kids, guess that is one thing that'll always be universe constant.

"Oooh, you look so....." Arial stared at Herc, a huge smile on her face, having been curious about him ever since Temp had mentioned him. "... so, cool!" She bounced up to him, completely stricken by the combination of bones and mechanical parts, looking them over in awe and admiration. 

Roman seemed to be just at interested in him as Arial, excited to bridge a new friendship as well. Courier, on the other hand, seemed to be just a bit apprehensive- and almost uncharacteristically shy about approaching Herc, opting to stay back and just peek at him from behind Red's arm, giving a small wave.

Having gotten off of his younger cousin and pulled her to her feet, Herc blushed a curious reddish pink color and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah- thank you!" He wasn't used to compliments like that on his appearance, although he soaked it up like a flower did the rain.

Tempus began to introduce the two groups. "Hercy, this is Roman and Arial. They're like... My universe half siblings!" She sounded so excited as she motioned to each of them respectively. "Their dads are another version of my mommy! So that... Sort of makes us related?" Even if it didn't, that's what she was going with. 

She gestured over to Courier, wondering why he suddenly seemed so shy. "That's Courier! He's uncle Papy's son from that universe so he's your universe half sibling too!" Curious to meet his, in a way, counterpart, Herc skipped over to the half hidden skeleton child, beaming and sticking out his hand. "Hi, Courier! My name is Herculanum, but everyone calls me Herc! It's really nice to meet you!" In the end, Herc just wanted to make friends.

Though not expecting the sudden hand in his space, Courier stood his ground. Red lifted up his arm so he wasn't blocking the two from meeting, even if he did notice his nephew's apprehension. The orange clad skeleton gingerly took the offered hand, giving it a firm shake. "H-hello, Herc. It's nice to meet you, too." 

Roman and Arial seemed to notice his nervousness as Courier tucked his chin into his bandanna and immediately went to join them- Roman deciding to snag Tempus to bring her along as well.

"This is so neat, it's like we're a big family!" Arial said. "I always wanted a bunch of siblings!"

Herc grinned, determined to show Courier that he meant him no harm and wanted to be friends. Tempus nodded eagerly and began to pull them inside. Sans quietly asked his nephew if his parents were home yet but Herc answered in the negative. 

When Grillby heard the commotion of everyone entering the house, the flame elemental came out of the kitchen and quickly went over to hug his daughter tightly. "Daddy!" Tempus cooed, hugging him back just as tightly. Their flames mixed and there was a brief sense of heat as the father soothed himself that his daughter was safe and home once more. "I was worried. We all were." He said in his soft voice. "We are so glad you're home safe..."

Tempus snuggled into his arms, looking guilty for a little bit. "I'm sorry daddy... I brought my new friends over, though!" Eagerly, she introduces them and babbles on about how they're 'related' and such. He listens on with a smile, mostly just relieved to have her home. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." He nods over at the parents of the alternate universe children in welcome as well. "Dinner should be ready soon, a bit later since I nearly tripled the amount I was making after the news we would be having company."

"Thanks, but take your time with it, Grillbz. None of us are impatient people." Blue said, nodding back- he wasn't surprised at the hospitality one bit, keeping his lazy grin as he stayed at Red's side. Honestly, the prospect of food didn't seem too appealing to him at the moment, but he chalked it up to having made that huge jump earlier.

Roman seemed to suddenly remember something really important, grabbing Arial and Courier's arms to drag them up to Grillby, grinning wide like a Cheshire cat. "Tempus! R-remember! W-we brought your dad presents!"

"Oh yeah!" Tempus gasped, smiling wide at her father's confused look. "They live in Snowdin and I know you like telling me about the pine cones from there so..." She pulled her 'load' out from her inventory. "We brought you some!" The flame elemental looked touched, taking one in his hand. "I love pine cones. Thank you, children." His voice was always on the quiet side but his tone held warmth and gratitude. "I'll work these into dinner somehow."

Though it was a bit unnerving for Grillby to see two different versions of his husband, not used to it in the way Sans was, he still wanted to be polite and courteous, especially since they helped bring their daughter home. There were enough subtle differences for him to tell them apart and he didn't want to be rude so he gestured to the living room. "Feel free to make yourselves at home, I'm sure Sans- my Sans- wouldn't mind showing you around and answer questions."

The other kids just followed Temp's lead and piled all the pine cones in their inventory beside hers- probably about 40 in total, not sure where else to place them.

Blue did notice the way Grillby looked at him, hoping that is wasn't a little too awkward for him to be hanging around; there were enough physical differences between the two main Sanses and Red that really made him his own person, but not so much for the other two. Mainly just their age difference- hell, they even wore that same old, worn down hoodie.

He shifted in place a bit, nodding. "Heck, I'm not sure what's left to answer at this point, but really- thank you." The kids seemed to group around Tempus again, buzzing with excitement.

As the kids walked away from the group, Red called after them. "Now, don't get into trouble, kids! And I m-mean you Arial!" Who just turned back to him and grinned sheepishly before returning her attention to the others.

"O-oh, I don't know! W-we don't know anything about th-the surface, s-so there's probably so m-much for us to see!" Roman stuttered out, gaze casting over the living room- it was a lot bigger than the one back in their home.

"Do you guys have your own bedrooms?" Arial decided to ask.

"Oh- yeah!" Herc took the lead this time, steering the group towards two doors. "This is my room..." he opened the door and led to a spacious room with various toys, most notably a large tv with a game system under and two controllers, the walls painted a tangerine color. "And this is my room!" Tempus eagerly nudged them towards the room next door. It was a tad smaller with what looked like a fake toy kitchen set and a lot of stuffed animals, the walls painted cyan to match her flame.

"Stuffed animals!" Arial shouted, running over to them to look at them all. "How many are there? Do they have names?" She was so focused on the dolls while the boys seemed to be glued to the large television.

"It's even b-bigger than Uncle Mettaton!" Roman was so amazed.

"Yes!" She cheered, eagerly pulling her favorites out. "This one is Floppy, this one is Princess Marigold, this one is Kitty... Ah!" She leaned up and reached for the lone plush sitting on her bed. This one seemed well loved, a few singes in the patched fabric. "This is my favorite, Mister Whims!" It was a plush of a whimsum. "I've had him since I was little little, I can't sleep without him."

"'Uncle' Mettaton?" Herc seemed a bit confused, wondering then who Courier's dad could be but grinning anyways. "It is bigger than my dad's old square form, I got it for my birthday last year! It was more for me and Temp, though, since we play games together on it all the time." He gestured to the game system beneath it. "So um... What's my dad like in your world?"

"Princess Marigold is so pretty!" Arial beams, listening and memorizing each name. She watched as Tempus cradled the whimsum plush, smiling. "He's so cute! I have a doll like that too! Her name is Odd and I don't really know what kind of monster she is, but she sleeps with me every night! If you ever come back to our world I can show her to you!"

"Uncle Mettaton is g-great! We r-really only get to see him on TV o-or when we go over to Alphys' lab to play with Kokoro!" Roman sits down in front of the TV to look at the gaming system, never having seen one like this before.

"Our Mettaton only has a box form, I think." Courier speaks up for the first time in a while, still just a bit nervous about being around Herc. But then he blinked, suddenly getting what Herc had said before. "Mettaton is your dad?"

She hugged her favorite plush tight before seeming to think something over. Tempus took a breath before smiling and offering the beat up plush to Arial. "Wanna hold him?"

"Yeah, Mettaton is my dad!" He sounded proud of the fact. "My dad mentioned in the underground he had his box form before Untie Frisk came by and Aunty Alphys had to build him his current body. Oh- I have a picture!" He ran over to his bedside table and picked up a picture frame, offering it to the other two boys. In it was Mettaton in his EX form, smiling up at a slightly younger Herc who was riding on Papyrus's shoulders.

"Really? I can?" Arial smiled brightly, softly taking the offered toy and gave it a gentle hug- knowing how much it meant to share your favorite doll. "He's so soft!"

Courier took the picture frame and Roman hovered beside him to look at the photo- both seemed surprised, not recognizing the robot as Mettaton, but taking Herc's word that it was him. "Wow! I wonder if o-ur Mettaton has that f-form!" Courier seemed to contemplate something before handing the frame to Roman so he could look it over.

He reached into the neck of his bandanna and under his shirt, pulling out a pocket photo of his own, holding it out so Herc could see. "These are my dads." It was a picture of himself as an infant smooshed between the two Papyruses. 

The young girl smiled, not seeming as nervous at handing over her comfort toy when it was treated so gently as Arial was treating it. "It's why I like sleeping with him, because he's so soft! He also keeps away the bad thoughts and nightmares."

"He probably does? My dad said that during the last few months in the Underground he had it as a prototype version but it got destroyed in the 'battle' between Untie Frisk and him so Auntie Alphys rebuilt it for him but as a permanent version." He explained, wondering if there was an old show of his dad's on in order to show that it was really him.

At being offered the picture, he took it gingerly and gasped. "Wow! Your dad is another version of our mom! I met one like him once, I think, but definitely not the same one, your dad looks totally different." His pupils became lit up stars. "He... he reminds me of a rock star! It's so cool!"

"Thank you for letting me hold him, Tempus." Arial gives the doll one last warm hug before handing it back to it's rightful owner. "And all good dolls should! I've had Odd for a very long time, too- she always makes me feel and sleep better."

"Th-that sounds like Aunt Alphys! Hehe, sh-she's always building cool stuff. And your Mettaton l-looks super cool!" Roman walks back over to put the picture frame back where it was before, rejoining the other boys.

"He always wears really cool and dark clothes! If rock stars do that, then that's him!" Courier smiled, but then it faltered a little. "Y-yeah, I've heard that he always wasn't so.... Nice, m-maybe you met a different version of him." His eyes did cast over to Roman momentarily, then flicked away when the older skeleton gave him a bright smile.

"He's r-really nice now, though! Uncle Night is a teddy bear, b-but a kinda' scary looking one. You and Temp have to meet h-him and Uncle Paps! I'm sure they'd love y-you both!"

Tempus happily took him back and after a warm hug, put the plush back on her bed. "I've had him since I was a baby so he's been protecting me for a long time now! What do you wanna do now?"

"I think I'd like to meet him! He seems like a really cool skeleton!" Herc agreed with the older boy, carefully handing Courier the photo back before looking over at the tv again. "Hey! You guys wanna play a game?"

"Hmmm...." Arial thoughtfully tapped her chin, trying to think up something, mind momentarily floating back to the large TV in Herc's room. "Oh! Do you have any favorite movies? All we really have in the underground is Uncle Mettaton's shows and some anime of Aunt Alphys'."

"Mmm-hmm...." Courier placed the picture back into the neck of his shirt, keeping it right next to his soul. He and Roman seemed to light up at the mention of games, so used to just the one or two they had back home. "What kind of games do you have?"

"Oh! I have a lot of favorites!" She darted over to a low shelf and pulled out three slim boxes. "These are the ones I'll watch over and over though. The little mermaid, Finding Nemo, and happy feet! Do you have any favorites?"

"Lots! Mostly multiplayer since Temp and I play together a lot. Lately we've been playing Just Dance a lot. Wanna try it?" Herc held up the disc.

"These look so neat! They're all about the water!" Her eyes brightened, being drawn to the 'Little Mermaid' case. "And, not really- like I said, we mostly just get to watch Uncle Mettaton.... We have to watch these next time we visit!"

"Just Dance? That s-sounds like fun!" Roman came to the quick conclusion that it was a dancing game, and even if he was low energy most of the time, he loved to dance. "What d-do you say, Courier?"

"Yeah! Should we go get the girls to play, too?"

"I... really like the water..." It was an odd sentence, coming from a monster who was half fire elemental which made water dangerous to her. "Oh- The Princess in the Little Mermaid movies name is even similar to yours! Her name is Ariel."

"Yeah! It's up to four players though so we may have to take turns on some stuff. Me and Temp are really good at some of the duo stuff!"

"Ariel? That does sound like my name!" She giggled, adoring the idea that she shared a similar name to a princess. Their princess talk was paused when Courier poked his head into Temps' room.

"Hey, we're gonna' play a game with Herc- you guys wanna' join us?" Arial looked up when Courier came in, turning back to Tempus, waiting for her choice.

"That's okay! I'm s-sure watching is j-just as exciting." Roman laughed, really looking forward to playing this game now. "I'll wait and l-let everyone else go first!"

"Oh! That'd be fun, yeah!" She answered before looking back down at the movies and thinking for a bit, eye ridges furrowed. After a nod and a smile, she offered the movies back to Arial. "Here, why don't you take them home with you so you can watch them?"

"Well- you can still do the dancing moves!" Herc tried, not wanting the older boy to feel left out. "You just won't be getting any 'points' for it. Temp and I don't really pay attention to those, though, we just like the dancing rather than wining."

"W-wait, really, Tempus?" Arial looked surprised and happy at the same time, gingerly holding the movies before putting them in her inventory. "I'll take good care of them and bring them back right away!" She stood up, holding her hands out for Temp to take so they could join the others.

"I c-can? Okay, we'll do that then! B-but let's watch you and Temp first, s-so we can learn how to play!" Roman took a seat on the floor, just out of being in front of the TV.

"It's okay, I just want you to enjoy the stories too!" She smiled at the older girl before taking her hand and leading them back to her cousin's room.

"Alright!" Herc clapped when he saw all the other kids were in the room. "We're gonna play Just Dance which is a game exactly how it sounds. It plays a song and scrolls through the dance moves like it were a music video and we gotta copy it!" Tempus jumped a bit in place, she loved playing this game with him. "Oh oh! Can we do 'Burn' first?"

Herc laughed but nodded, turning the tv and game on. "You just like that song because of the title!" She mock pouted at him, bumping shoulders. "Yeah and you only like 'On the Floor' because of that one move!" Sticking his tongue out and looking an awful lot like his father, he giggled. "Guilty. Let's play!"

The other font kids grouped together to watch the two dance intently, drinking in how to play the game, and also finding some moves they pulled to be very entertaining. They seemed to get into the music, mimicking the moves on their own to try and understand how it all worked.

After a song or two, the two cousins turned to the trio of skeleton children, smiling and a bit out of breath. "That's the basics of it! You guys wanna hop in and do a song or two while we catch our breath?" Herc said, offering the game controller as Tempus flopped to the floor. "You can pick any song you want!"

"Y-yeah!" Roman hopped in place as the three moved in front of the television. Courier held his arm up, like he'd seen Herc do- watching, amazed, as the cursor followed his hand around the screen like it was magic. In doing this, he accidentally chose a song- Arial recovered for him and chose the player count for them. 

When it started, the three probably looked something similar to that of a startled gaggle of geese with how they were trying to learn the moves- Arial seemed to the quickly getting the hang of it, while Courier and Roman kept bumping into one another, ending up with them giggling as they tried to recover.

Tempus rested while sitting between her cousin's legs on the floor as they watched their new friends try out the game. They smiled and laughed along with them, the both of them cheering them on. "You're doing great, guys!"

The song finally finished, leaving them all panting, but grinning wildly. Roman took a step back and promptly fell into his butt, giggling as he tried to catch his breath. "Th-that was s-so much f-fun! I h-hope we get to come over and p-play again!" He looked exhausted.

"Hehe, why don't you rest, Roman? Herc and Temp can play the next round with us!" Arial bounced in place, seeming energized now. Roman just nodded, still giggling from where he sat on the floor.

Herc and Tempus eagerly scrambled to their feet, the older of the pair gently taking the controller to scroll through the songs. He settled on the Macarena and looked to the other kids. "Wanna try this one? It's fun!"

"The beat to the one is really catchy, I like it!" Arial moved to stand next to Herc, Courier to her other side, both seemed eager to play the next round. Roman crossed his legs on the floor still grinning and let out the tiniest of yawns, trying to cover it up with a hand.

Grinning, Herc selected it, getting into the opening pose as did Tempus.

Courier and Arial followed suit and as the moves started to flow across the screen, followed them to the best of their limited knowledge of the dances. They seemed to genuinely be having fun, even when they messed up. 

Arial kept trying her best not to keep bumping into or nudging Herc, but the closeness of some of the moves made it almost impossible.

Herc and Temp had the moves more memorized and were a bit more fluid in executing them but still messed up and fumbled though they were mostly laughing the entire time.

Though not as good as the other two, Arial and Courier managed to actually finish the song holding the end poses with finesse, laughing the entire time. "You guys are so good at this!" Arial managed to get out between almost unneeded breaths.

"Y-you all did great!" Roman shouts from his still seated position, having enjoyed the show very much.

"Nah, just like this song a lot so we play it a lot! It's more fun with more people though, then you can get all the funny dancing parts rather than just doing it to the open air." Herc said, a slight quiet whirring mechanical noise coming from him as his body worked to keep itself cool. "Come on, Roman, do the next song with us!" Tempus panted, lightly tugging on his hand, wanting him to join them. To her, it wasn't fun if everyone wasn't having fun along side each other."

"Right, those big group moves were a lot of fun, hehe. Are there more songs like that on here?" Arial seemed pumped to play the next round, slowly managing to catch her 'breath'.

"O-okay! I-I'll just do the m-moves to the side, beside you." Roman allowed himself to be dragged back to his feet, taking- what could almost be considered- his rightful place next to Tempus.

"There are plenty! It's a game meant to be played with friends so it's just a matter of picking a song that sounds good to you." Herc said, handing the remote over to Courier this time.

"O-oh!" Courier seemed surprised when he was handed the controller, taking time to scroll through the various songs before settling on "Circus". "This one sounds neat! He said before clicking it, quickly setting the controller down to take the opening pose- Arial and Roman doing the same.

Herc's opening pose was a bit stronger, a bit of passed down talent from his dad showing through while Temp's own form was a bit messier since she was just so excited to play with them all. The two cousins were more used to just playing with each other since neither of them had many friends but to get the opportunity to play with others like this was really lifting their spirits.

As the music began, Courier had been quickly thrown off balance by the weirdness of the separate moves each of them were supposed to be doing- occasionally ending up bumping into Arial, who in turn, would end up doing the same to Herc. She did recover a lot quicker than Courier, always nudging him back to get him back into the swing of the song.

Roman, however, was trying his hardest not to throw things off too badly being a fifth person added to the screen. Though he seemed to be having a lot more fun now that all of them were playing together, enjoying the song and time spent with them more than anything else.

Tempus got a bit frustrated with the constant bumping around... until she smiled and decided to throw the moves out the perverbial window and start ad libing her own moves, Herc laughing and following her lead. It was almost always more fun when they did it this way, less bumping around.

The three quickly followed suit, completely ignoring the moves as well, jumping into the fun. Roman took no time in reaching his hands out for Tempus to take, openly offering to dance with her, wide grin plastered on his face.

Tempus took his hand without hesitation, twirling a little with a laugh. Herc paused, for just a beat feeling a bit jealous of Roman so quickly getting close with someone who was practically his sister and best friend but it passed after a moment. After all, they could all be friends! He looked between Arial and Courier before yelling "Fudge it!" and offering the both of them his hands.

And Roman spun with her, just enjoying the music and hanging out with everyone having so much fun. Sure, he, Arial, and Courier had times like this- but with more skeletons? It was almost like a dream come true.

Arial was quick to take one of Herc's hands, Courier hesitating for a second before deciding the same; connecting their small ring together as they giggled, dancing to their own rhythm.

Roman tried his best to follow the beat as well, quickly falling out of pace as he started to tire out again, but not wanting to stop because they were having a good time.

The song came to its end after a few more moments of wild dancing between the group, Courier deciding to end by flopping onto his back on the floor- laughter still bubbling from his chest. 

Arial just giggled from her place, hands on her knees as she tried to gather herself again, feeling light headed from the spinning and the exertion. Her smile flashed in Herc's direction. "Th-that was the best!"

Tempus had gotten dizzy after awhile and was leaning heavily on Roman, giggling like mad. Pretending to be dramatic, Herc flopped onto his side once the song was done. "We were so fantastic they should make a movie about our dancing skills!"

Arial followed the lead, deciding to take a place on the floor between Courier and Herc, giggle fit finally ending as she splayed her arms and legs out. "Hehe, what if we made our own movie, instead? That would be amazing!"

Roman held the two of them up the best he could, trying his best to not topple over from the added weight. "We would b-be so popular on the U-Underground net!"

Herc gasped, face lighting up. "Yeah! We could use the equipment my dad uses for his shows and write it together and Tempus, you can sing the music! And..." It looked like Arial had struck a point in Herc that he was very passionate about, the young monster beginning to go on a tangent and babble on excitedly.

Tempus just smiled quietly and watched her cousin go on, knowing he had a dream to possibly follow in his dad's footsteps.

 

Arial rolled over onto her chest and propped her chin up on her hands, grin widening as she paid attention to every word Herc said, gently nodding her head in agreement. She slowly became more and more excited as he did, starting to rock in place as the ideas began to flow. Courier sat up, finding himself getting lost in the conversation as well, giving small, enthusiastic replies and agreements as Herc went on.

"Hehe, you think h-he'd let us use his equipment, H-Herc?" Roman looked up hopefully at the taller child.

Herc stopped his babbling when the question was posed, perking up. "Yeah, I think so!" Tempus spoke up after a beat of silence before her cousin could launch back into the topic and spoke without pause. "I heard the front door open, maybe they're home and we can ask him! We should go check."

"O-oh, this will be s-so neat!" Roman shook with excitement, Arial and Courier hopping up to their feet, more than ready to start their movie! "M-more grown ups, th-this is gonna' be cool." Roman giggled loudly as they waited for the other two to lead the way.

Herc jumped up to his feet, grabbing his cousin's hand and tugging her along. "Yeah, let's go look!" Tempus and Herc quickly walked through the door and peered over the banister. "Grandpa Gaster!" They both cheered, looking excited to see him.

Blue had started to sign a reply, but was cut off by Herc and Tempus shouting from above. He and Red had the same look of worry on their features.

The three had eagerly followed the lead, but the moment the two shouted for their grandfather, Arial stumbled, reeling back into the bedroom, not daring to look down like her brother and cousin were. Panic crossed her face as she moved to hide behind the wall.

"You have a Gaster?" Courier peered down with the others, he looked a lot different from the one they were used to. Roman just waved down at him, before noticing his sister's absence. His head turned to find her, but couldn't.

"A-Arial...?" He called out, moving to look back in the bedroom to see her, knees curled to her chest.

"Yeah! He came back when I was five from the void a few months before Temp was born and-" Herc cut himself off when he saw that Arial was gone and her brother was calling for her. "Arial?" Tempus mimicked the call, walking back into the room to see if she had just not followed them.

When she saw her curled up, her expression dropped as did she, going up to her side. Arial's expression reminded her of her own when she was scared and alone and panicking in the other universe. Tempus reached out cautiously to touch her arm. "Arial?" She called softly.

Herc had poked his head in to follow after his cousin, frowning and looking concerned. Glancing at the other boys, he asked. "Is she okay? Did she get dizzy from all the dancing...?"

Arial jumped at the light touch, head popping up, almost afraid if it was going to be the one she was scared of. She seemed to relax a little when it was just Tempus and her brother, flashing them a nervous smile.

Roman sat down on the floor in front of her, eyes flashing concern for his little sister. "Hey, A-Arial, it's okay...."

"I-is it actually....?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. Roman seemed a bit scared to say yes or no, knowing Arial's deep rooted fear- but decided it was best to tell the truth. His head nodded, solemnly.

"B-but, he looks r-really nice, Arial! Not scary at all!" He tried to quell the fear spreading on her face, but it didn't seem to work. His eyes cast over to Tempus and Herc for help. "H-he is nice, right, guys....?"

Tempus reached forward to gently take Arial's hand. "Arial, Grandpa has been around since I was born, he's always been nice to me and Herc! He teaches us things like sign language a-and science- we made a fake volcano once! And he's always the one to watch us when our parents are gone doing things for the night..."

Herc had come into the room after hearing the three talk, looking concerned for the other girl. "Y-yeah, Arial! I met him when I was five before Temp was born and at first, he was scary, yeah... but after I got to know him, he was really nice!"

Tempus nodded emphatically. "Yeah, yeah! I bet... I even bet if you, or me and Herc! asked, he would not be around you so that he didn't make you scared cause... cause he doesn't like making people scared!"

Arial flinched involuntarily at her hand being held before relaxing and squeezing it back with an uneasy look on her face. Listening as both Herc and Tempus spoke, eyes darting between them, letting their words sink in; she knew, of course, how ridiculous the fear was, but it wasn't something she could control.

"Y-you.... You think he would?" Arial croaks out, trying to hold back the tears pricking in her eyes.

Both children nodded emphatically, wanting to reassure her as best as possible while Tempus squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Positive!" Herc chirped, giving her a wide smile. "Do you want me to go downstairs and tell him to go to another room or something? I know grandpa wouldn't mind and would understand."

Down below, Gaster had an uneasy look on his face as he wrung his hands together. "Oh dear..." He sighed. "She must be so frightened, that's the last thing I wanted..." The older skeleton looked to Blue and Red. "What should I do...?"

"N-no, you guys want to go see him...." Arial hiccuped as her brother leaned forward against her knees, very much so getting in her personal space. 

"Y-you'll have me, and Courier, and T-Temp, and Herc, and D-Dad, and Pops-" He started to ramble off everyone in the house to try and lift her spirits. "We'll all be there t-to help you, Arial- you won't have to b-be so scared." Roman smiled sincerely at her, and she just nodded her head meekly. He was right, worst come to worst, she could just go to one of their parents.

"O-okay...." She still seemed nervous, but so long as her friends were there, Arial believed she could at least face her fear long enough to go downstairs.

Blue and Red looked to each other, the latter tempted to just go upstairs and get Arial himself, worried about his daughter. Blue just held his hands up. "Let's just wait a moment, Gaster, see what the kids do first...."

Tempus just silently wormed her way to Arial's other side and hugged her tightly. There was silence as she hugged her 'sister' before she pulled away, a determined look on her face. "You guys all made me feel safe and okay when I was alone and s-scared in your world, now it's my t-turn to do the same for you, Arial. I can hold your hand, if you want?"

Herc let his cousin speak, glancing at the other two boys nervously. He wanted to ask what had happened to make Arial fear her grandfather so much, curious, but knew better than to ask outright and possibly bring up more bad memories or thoughts for the other girl. Focusing on Courier, he mouthed 'What can I do?' To him.

"R-right...." Arial smiled despite herself at Tempus, hugging her back, feeling just a bit better as she spoke- had she been someone else, the idea of such a younger kid holding their hand while they were scared would have been embarrassing, but it was comforting to her. "I-I'm sorry if this s-seems stupid...." Arial managed to say as Roman took her arms to try and lead her to stand up.

Courier looked up at Herc, his hands had been wringing in the edge of his neckerchief nervously- he had honestly only ever heard Arial's nightmares of their grandpa in the middle of the night, then she was calmed down by either or both of her parents. He'd not been exposed to the fear directly, but it seemed Roman had. He just shuffled awkwardly beside Herc as Arial got to her feet.

"Fears aren't stupid!" Herc corrected immediately, used to this at least in his constant attempts to ease Temp's own anxiety and fear issues. "You're afraid and that's okay, we'll do everything we can to make you feel safe!" Both cousins nodded firmly at the declaration as Tempus reached over to hold Arial's hand tightly. 

"Do you want maybe me and Courier to go down first to tell Grandpa to keep his distance?" Herc offered, glancing at the other boy, knowing that he might want something to do in order to help.

"I-I don't want to make him feel bad-" Arial said, squeezing Tempus' hand back, and Roman took a place at her free side, not wanting her to feel unsafe either.

"Y-yeah! It might help!" He spoke up for her, Gaster was a grown up- he would understand in this universe like he did in their universe. "W-well wait up stairs until Arial is r-ready." His face cracked into a small smile, to try and uplift his sister's spirits.

"Okay!" Courier nodded, turning to Herc as he waited at the door for the elder to join him.

"Nonsense!" Herc practically chirped. "Grandpa Gaster is really nice, he'll understand that you're scared, he won't feel bad about it. Come on, Courier!" He called, starting to dash out the door, calling downstairs. "Grandpa Gaaaaasteeeeer!"

The elder skeleton perked up when his oldest grandchild came running down the stairs along with another skeleton child he did not recognize but could guess what the child of a Papyrus and another monster. "Herculanum, what's wrong?" He spoke, knowing the child understood his speech. Gaster was one of the few monsters to actively call Herc by his full name.

"You need to be nice!" He said, putting his hands on his hips dramatically, a move he'd picked up from his mother. "Arial is afraid of... Well not you you're a nice grandpa, but of another 'Gaster'!"

Courier took no time in missing a beat, chasing after the other down stairs, just a pace behind him. As Herc shouted and posed hilariously, Courier found himself doing the same, but in contrast- more of mimicking his father in crossing his arms. "Y-yeah!" He agreed, not really wanting to speak out of place since it wasn't his grandfather, directly. 

Blue quirked a brow at both boys, Red sharing a similar look- both wondering what exactly the kids were up to; had they managed to get Arial to attempt to face her fear? Part of them wouldn't be surprised, honestly. But, they were still curious. Red inched just a bit closer to Blue, eyes focused upstairs, just waiting for the others to come down as well.

Arial flinched just a bit at the shouting, reflexively squeezing Temp's hand.

Sans... Looked like he wanted to laugh so badly, but was restraining himself. Gaster, had already failed from trying not to smile but was managing to hold back his laughter in order to convey that he was taking the boys seriously, which he honestly was. His grandson just had an odd... Delivery method of things, sometimes. "Alright, I will be nice. Is there anything I shouldn't do?" This question was directed more at Courier than at Herc.

The young teen blinked a few times before turning to his new friend. "Um...what should Grandpa avoid doing?"

"UM!" Courier started, really unsure of what to do exactly, his eyes darting towards Red and Blue, begging for a little help in the situation. Both adults just shrugged, looking back at him, Blue quickly threw some hand signs to give him a hint and then he straightened up, as if he knew all along. "Tr-try not to come up to and spook her!"

"That's the big one, yeah." Blue smiled a bit, allowing the young child to have his moment. 

Arial turned her head at the sound of both Papyrus' sons boisterous shouting downstairs, wondering nervously when it would be safe to head out of the room. Her face flushed a light green in embarrassment, at herself. 

"Hehe, both of them really sound like Uncle Papy." Roman giggled quietly.

Sans silently walked over to the couch, grabbed a pillow, and pressed it to his skull, shoulders shaking as he silently laughed.

Gaster managed to just keep it down to chuckles. "Shall I wait for her to approach me then rather than going to her? Is there a way for me not to seem scary?" Honestly, he already got the gist of what he should and shouldn't do but the boys were so hilarious and confident and wanting to be helpful that he wanted to let them.

Tempus grinned and nodded, gently leaning against Arial. "Herc loves acting like his mommy and daddy whenever he gets the chance."

"W-well, I don't think you look that scary! Not like our Gaster, at least." Courier quieted down by the last part of his sentence, hands falling to his sides, dropping the 'confident' front for just a second before straightening up again. "So, I think that should be fine! Right, Herc?" He turned to the older child, looking up at him to make sure.

"Heh, yeah, I think Gaster has the idea, boys." Blue chuckled behind his hand.

"Courier does, t-too! He loves to pretend to be Uncle Night, but he's n-not scary enough to be h-him, hehe." Roman smiles at Arial, who returns it.

Herc nodded, satisfied, and turned around to call out loudly.

"AIRAL! ROMAN! TEMPUS! GRANDPA GASTER KNOWS THE RULES NOW, YOU CAN COME DOWN!"

Sans quietly died more in the sanctity of his pillow.

Tempus smiled and held Arial's hand tighter. "Ready?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the adult's half!

Blue did notice the way Grillby looked at him, hoping that is wasn't a little too awkward for him to be hanging around; there were enough physical differences between the two main Sanses and Red that really made him his own person, but not so much for the other two. Mainly just their age difference- hell, they even wore that same old, worn down hoodie.

He shifted in place a bit, nodding. "Heck, I'm not sure what's left to answer at this point, but really- thank you." The kids seemed to group around Tempus again, buzzing with excitement.

"Well I could answer questions you have about the surface, or just things that are different in general with our time lines." Sans stepped back in as his husband worked to collect all the pine cones given to him. He eyed Blue a little, as if he was trying to figure something out.

Temp eagerly led the bunch, Herc taking up the rear. "What do you guys wanna do?" She asked eagerly. "Yeah, we can show you guys anything!" Herc threw in.

"I think there's obviously enough different between our timelines." Blue chuckled, and sure- he did have quite a few questions, but he didn't want to start asking and get attached to this world that wasn't theirs. The kids would surely, if they weren't already, get so- but Blue didn't want to do that to himself, because he knew that there may not be a possibility for their time line to break through to the surface.

"Oh, I know- how long have you guys been up here? Seems to be a few years at least." Blue said, not noticing the look he was getting.

"Ah-" He seemed to snap out of staring. "Let's see... Herc is thirteen so, almost 14 years I believe. I stopped waiting and fearing for us to reset the year Tempus was born." Sans nodded a bit solemnly.

"Wow, that must be one heck of a stress relief." Blue didn't openly admit it, unless it was in the confidence of Red, but he still woke up in the morning fully expecting things to go back and his family to be gone. Not that he'd remember them, but sometimes after resets, he'd come to and there would just.... Be an empty feeling in the bottom of his soul. Like he'd forgotten something really important. 

"Fourteen years?" Red repeated, blinking in surprise. "No wonder you guys seem so comfortable here. So, the humans aren't so bad after all?" He gently nudged Blue to drag him out of any negative thoughts he was having, who just popped his head up and gave a small, nervous smile.

"It really is. Let me really enjoy raising Temp and just... Enjoy being free, not just of the underground, but of the loops too." Sans seemed to space out a bit himself before Red's question made him pay attention again. "The Humans... Probably took six-ish years to get used to us. Well, not used to, but for all the protection laws and anti discrimination laws to be passed. Asgore, Toriel, Papyrus, Frisk, and Mettaton had their work cut out for them but they did a lot of good work."

 

"I can only hope that we'd get to have that kind of relaxation one day. All of this is really nice." Blue vaguely gesture around him, making an open motion at everything in general. Maybe it would be something he'd have to talk to the King and Queen about, now that he's had a taste of the surface..... Blue shook his head, saving those thoughts for later. 

"I bet they did if it took six years- but hey, you guys seem r-really well off." Red smiled, then started to feel a bit of a lazy itch coming on. "Hey, got somewhere we can sit and talk?"

"Oh, yeah sure, sorry." Sans led the pair to the living room, hearing Grillby hard at work cooking. He wondered when his brother and brother in law would be home, not knowing how far out they'd made it in searching for Tempus before he gave the call to come home. He knew his dad would take a bit longer since he moved slow generally.

"The well off part is a combo of us all, really. Mettaton hit it off big here on the surface, Pap made good money with the Monster Mascot thing, Grillby's restaurant is really doing well, Gaster and I helped with a few science stuff..." He smiled, thinking about it. "... It all really helped. Enough so that now we don't have to worry too much about cash when it comes to the kids."

Both Red and Blue sat down on a couch, Blue giving a wide arm stretch like he'd been over exerting himself all day , which he hadn't been. Red just rolled his eyes at the action, getting comfortable next to the other. 

"Heh, sounds like you've got it made then." Blue shifts a little, leaning his head onto his hand, propped up on the arm of the couch. "We're not that bad off ourselves, I suppose. Night-" He shakes his head. "Red's Papyrus, I mean- he does pretty well as second in command of the Royal Army, managed to actually get my bro a real title in the army as well."

"Shit, they're gonna' freak when they get home and we're n-not there." Red mumbled. "Nah, don't worry, I left a note, they'll be fine." That relieved some of Red's anxiety and he let out a sigh.

"Well, that's good, it can never hurt to make sure its smooth sailing money wise so its easier to focus on the kids..." Sans paused and frowned as the rest of the words caught up to his mind. "Wait, Royal Army? Not just the Royal Guard?" He sounded a bit concerned at how the need for more than just the guard seemed to have risen up.

 

"Completely Night's idea." Blue shrugs, not that their world needed an army, so to speak.

"Y-yeah, the world m-me and him are from isn't really the friendliest place. So when he joined the guard, Night wasn't satisfied with it. Convinced Undyne to up the protection." Red adds, personally a little glad there's a trained army now- even if they don't so much differently than the guard.

"Paps is part of the 'reserve' guard- he still pretty much does the same thing he did before, but it's an official title." It made Papyrus happy, and that's all that mattered to them in the end.

"I'm just surprised fluffy buns let it happen, if I remember right he was reluctant to make the guard in the first place." He murmured before tilting his head up and taking a deep breath. "Mm, I think dinner must almost be ready, I can smell the sauce from here. I just hope my bro, Metta, and dad get home soon, I know they'd love to meet you guys."

"M-my brother is uh..... Persuasive, to say the least." Red looked off to the side, feeling Blue shift beside him, making an uncomfortable looking face. 

"That sauce smells extra tomato-ey." The face Blue was making made it look like he was ready to get sick at any given second- lately just the idea of anything with tomatoes, this even included his beloved ketchup, made him want to throw up. Even Red had noticed the others adversity to the fruit as of late.

"Are you gonna' be okay there, Blue?" He tentatively placed a hand on Blue's shoulder.

Sans slightly suspicious look returned as he was given another piece of the puzzle. He wasn't as good at puzzles as his brother had been but this one was piecing together quickly. "That's because Grillby is making tomato sauce for the spaghetti. If you need, I can show you were the bathroom is? Don't want you getting sick..."

"That would be a good idea." Blue made a move to stand up, which only caused him to stumble slightly from the head rush- that wasn't helping how he currently felt at all. He made a mental note that six people seemed to be his 'universe jumping' limit on passengers. Red's hands shot out to hold his back up so Blue didn't fall down, and he was grateful for that, because he probably would have. "Heh, seems like I'm fallin' for you again, Red."

"Shut up and go to the bathroom, numbskull." Red huffed in response, not that he didn't find the joke funny, but Blue only looked like he'd gotten sicker in the few seconds it took for him to right his balance.

Sans offered physical support as he walked Blue slowly over to the nearest bathroom. Dizzyness, nausea, and assuming the tiredness wasn't the same feeling of exhaustion that he usually felt... it was all adding up to one thing is his mind. He glanced down at Blue's middle while helping him walk but didn't really see anything and Blue was either hiding it from Red or neither of them knew yet. He knew he was right, the signs mirrored his own perfectly all those years ago now. Only one way to find out. "So... how far along are you?"

Blue could only sputter at the question, pausing once they got to the bathroom to stare at Sans. "How far along? Ahaha, guess I'm still hilarious even in other timelines." This was all just from him over exerting his magic- typically he'd have the help of Night's magic to make all these big jumps. There was no way it could be what was being implied, because Blue would know- right? 

Whoops, he was suddenly reminded why he came to the bathroom in the first place, quickly raising a hand to cover his mouth, managing to hold back being sick. "Eugh, sorry...."

"It's fine, the door is open if you need to rush in. But come on, Blue, think about it. Aside from age and experiences, you and I are exactly the same person." He lifted the hand that wasn't supporting his counterpart and began to tick things off. "Dizziness, Exhaustion, Nausea, and... aversion to tomatoes. All the early symptoms I had when I was pregnant with Tempus. It all adds up!"

"Give me a second...." Blue leaned an open palm on the nearby wall for a little extra support, everything hitting him all at once. He had been convinced that he and Red wouldn't be able to have any more kids- but thinking back, his last heat was pretty intense and two had been pretty reckless.... 

"Oh, stars...." Quickly he shoved away from the wall and ducked into the bathroom, closing the door just in time.

Sans sighed and rubbed his skull. "Welp." That was an experience and a half. Walking quickly back into the living room, he poked his head in the doorway. "Hey, uh, Red right?" He called out to his alternate universe counterpart. "I think Blue needs you right now. He just got hit with some pretty hard information..."

"What?" Was Red's only reply before he shot up and made his way to the bathroom. "Is he o-okay?" Red could feel his anxiety building, if something was wrong with Blue and he didn't notice, he'd hate myself forever. "Blue?" He gently rapped his knuckles on the door, only earning him a sickly groan in response.

"Wh-what happened, you guys walked away for two seconds." His face was scrunched up in concern, cheeks beginning to flush nervously.

Sans sighed and rubbed the back of his skull. "It's my fault, I think. I put some puzzle pieces together before he did and he doesn't seem to be taking the news all that well.... that or morning sickness is kicking his ass as thoroughly as it did to me. He's pregnant. Congrats, I believe?"

"M-morning sickness? Preg-" Reds face was a hilarious mix of confused, shocked, surprised, and maybe even a little bit happy? His thought process was almost the exact same as Blue's- they had been told after Arial was born that they may have exhausted their reproductive magic, so this was a complete shock. 

"Ah.... Th-thanks, I guess.... " This was going to be different, it had been him- and figured it would always be him carrying- so knowing that Blue was going through his own early pregnancy hell was a little painful, but also partially satisfying- because he'd always say 'It's not that bad, Red.' and things along those lines. He knocked again, earning another grunt, then the toilet flushed.

"S'unlocked....." Peeking the door open, the two saw Blue, skull resting on the porcelain edge of the toilet, unable to tell if he looked better or worse than he did earlier. Red walked over and crouched next to him, gently running a thumb over his other cheek bone. "Guess I can't really argue with your logic now, Sans...." Blue said, voice sounding raw in his throat. 

Sans sighed and gave a small smile, filling a small cup sitting by the sink with water and offering it to Blue. He wouldn't ever have another child for the most part, but he still remembered all the symptoms he'd gone through with his pregnancy with Tempus.

"Well, think of it this way if you want a bright side. Since you and I are the same person, essentially, I can tell you all the things to watch out for that can and will set you off. Sadly, it includes anything with tomatoes. And just about any condiment except for hot sauce though that is more of a 'Tempus' thing... is what made me think of her name, actually."

Blue took the offered cup and sipped on it slowly, giving a silent nod. The information, though disheartening, was helpful- it tore him up that he couldn't have ketchup anymore, or any other beloved condiments. "Yeah, Red had the same problem, but with both Roman and Arial he found another substitute." Blue partially wondered what weird item this kid would have him chugging down.

"Pft, yeah- chocolate syrup and ranch dressing. Those were tough times." Red chuckled quietly, reaching down to help Blue back onto shaky legs. Part of him was just a little envious of Blue, though- he really enjoyed the pregnancies, though one was shorter, but nonetheless amazing. "Anything else you think he should avoid?"

Sans shuddered a bit at the listed condiments that had replaced ketchup for Red. Chocolate sauce didn't sound too bad but not entire bottles of it, And he didn't really like ranch dressing. "What ever cravings you get, don't fight them. I tried and ended up an emotional wreck along with getting sick with every thing else I tried to eat without satisfying the craving. " 

He looked up to the ceiling, trying to remember it all. "I ran a hot temperature when I got farther in during it but, again, I think that was because my kid was half fire monster... "

"I'll keep that in mind.... " Maybe he wouldn't get the fevers, but there was no telling how this pregnancy would go, and the more he thought about it, the more he could feel the anxiousness crawl down his spine. This one wasn't planned, not like the other two were. Blue shook his head, using Red to stabilize himself- he couldn't worry about that now. "Th-thanks, by the way. Guess it's better for us to find out this way than down the line and me really freaking out."

Sans nodded, patting his counterpart lightly on the back. "No problem, I wasn't sure if you were trying to hide it or just didn't know. Guess it was the latter then. I just hope telling you some things I went through when I had Temp would help.

"It does, and what I know about Red's pregnancies- I think we'll be fine...." Blue gave a weak smile, the nausea finally starting to ease away. "This is gonna' be utter hell, though, isn't it?" Red's face seemed to break out into a grin, eyes amusingly casting over to Sans, already knowing the answer.

Meeting Red's gaze, Sans snickered. "Probably. It's worth it in the end though, but I think you already know that. Look at it this way, it gives you another chance to try and get a punny name past your bro. That's what I had the most fun doing when I was having Tempus."

"Oh, shit, that's right!" Red seemed to have remembered what Tempus said before after Sans mentioned the pun in her name, not that he didn't hear it earlier- he had just been so focused on Blue that he forgot to say something. "Bro, Temp's name is a clever one- I laughed really hard when I first figured it out." 

"Tempus....?" Blue had to think for a second before getting it as well, moving to lean on Red again as he started to laugh. "Wow, and Papyrus didn't stop you?"

He gave a wide, wild grin when his counterparts caught on to the pun he'd hidden within his daughter's name. "Isn't it a good one? The best part was, Papyrus didn't realize it until she was three months old and he had to take her temperature for me! He was so mad but she was already responding to the name and she was already Tempus in our minds and hearts."

"Hehe, it's a lot funnier than what we thought of for ours. Guess we kinda' took naming them a bit more seriously." Blue chuckled softly as he made a motion to head out the door and get out of the cramped space so they weren't all jammed in the bathroom any more. "Not to say Tempus' name isn't nice, because it is- you got the bang of a great font name and a pun."

Sans led them out the bathroom, hoping the smell of dinner almost being ready wouldn't set the expecting skeleton off again now that there was nothing in his stomach to really lose. "I was thinking up all sorts of names to try and get passed Pap, fire ones too in case she came out looking more like fire then like a skeleton but he would always catch on to them. I didn't even realize the puntential for her name when it came up, Grilbz did!"

They both followed behind Sans, making their way back into the living room- luckily this time around, the smell of sauce didn't make Blue's 'stomach' churn, he just made a face, managing to bear through the scent. "Subconscious punning, never did I think I'd be able to get to that level of hilarity."

Red just chuckled beside them, head tilting curiously. "If dinners almost ready, shouldn't the rest of your family be here by n-now? How far out were you guys searching?"

"I've managed to instill at least a tolerance for puns in my nephew by making so many of them when he was smaller and since I just kept doing them, Tempus still laughs at them." Sans said with a smile, thinking about his family before the question caught his attention. "I wouldn't be surprised if Pap and Metta made it out pretty far in the time we spent searching. The last time this happened and she took Herc along for the ride accidentally, they teleported back to Snowdin, the now mostly abandoned town. It was only because I was on the look out for her magical signature that I got a lock on it at all. I know Dad will probably get home before them though, so at the very least, he'll get to meet you guys."

"Heh, that's a situation we're all too familiar with- how else do you think I've gotten so good at this 'universe hopping' thing? Our rascals are always jumping around." Blue chuckled dryly, quickly dying out at the mention of the other Sans' 'dad'.

"Oh, right, you h-have a Gaster." Red shared a nervous glance with Blue, both of them thinking the same thing- Red made a note to try and keep Arial from seeing the other Gaster. Even though she was older now, she still had a deep set fear of the skeleton scientist. He did mentally prepare on the off-chance that her meeting him would happen anyway. 

Sans frowned, not sure whether he should be concerned the way Red said that or offended. "'A Gaster', you say that like it's a bad thing... he came back into our lives a few months before Tempus was born through an incident that forced Alphys and I to fix The Machine in order to pull him, me, and Herc out of the void. He's been so great to have again after so many years..."

 

"It's not that we have anything against your Gaster, personally- it sounds like he's been an amazing father, honest." Blue said, trying to calm anything down before it had a chance to get out of hand. "Our main concern is for our daughter, she's.... She's extremely afraid of 'my' Gaster; Not that he did anything bad, he just spooked her when she was really young."

"Right, and mine... Well, it's best we don't talk about him." Red's eyes seemed to hollow out just a bit at some distant memories. "S-sorry, we're not trying to be grim or anything, Sans...."

He rubbed his skull and took a deep breath. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get so defensive. It's just been so great to have my only parent back after all this time, you know?" Sans looked sympathetic. "I'll try and get him at the door when he comes home and warn him so he doesn't scare her by accident. I know he'd love to meet your kids since they're sort of his grandkids to if you follow along the kid's explanation of how they're all technically half siblings, but not at the expense of her emotions, he wouldn't want that."

"Yeah, worst come to worst, one of us would just keep her distracted.... But, thanks for doing that in advance." Blue gave Sans a genuine smile. "I'm sure Roman would be ecstatic about meeting him, too- he really loves my Gaster, against all odds. But that kid could pretty much love anyone." The laugh that escaped him was hearty, any form of his previous sickness finally washed away in the mirth.

He brightened up a bit at the laugh. "I noticed, I'm still a bit shocked at how quickly they got passed Temp's defenses and anxiety. She's talking and playing with them in the way I've only ever seen her do with Herc, I mean, I assumed you saw how bad it gets for her when she first met you two? She's worse around strange adults."

Tempus laughed, loving how her skirt fanned out around her as they spun, trying to go to the beat of the music. Herc beamed as he waved his arms a bit, tangerine soul glowing brightly in it's glass case. This was the most fun either had in absolute ages.

"Oh yeah, she didn't even want to talk to me- was hiding behind the kids the whole time." Blue chuckled quietly, idly scratching the back of his skull at the memory. "But, really, that's just Roman- he can make friends with anyone, got a charm uniquely his own. I am glad that she likes our kids though, they really seem to have taken a liking to her and Herc."

"Yeah, she has a lot of trouble talking to anyone outside the family, makes it hard for her to make friends. Stuff like this gives me hope that she'll come out of her shell bit by bit and make more friends at school." He looked like he as about to say more when the sound of the front door opening alerted Sans as he poked his head around the corner. "Ah, dad! You're home, that's good since dinner is almost ready but I need to catch you up to speed..."

Red and Blue followed Sans, glancing at Gaster; he sure did look a lot different from theirs, Blue did remember, a long time ago, when his looked like that- like the tall and confident Gaster he knew when he was young. The pair made their way into the living room, not wanting to disturb Sans as he spoke to the other.

Gaster had looked shocked to see two more versions of his son when he'd come home expecting to just scoop up his granddaughter and not let her go until she complained. By the time the pair came back in about five minutes later, the former royal scientist looked more understanding but a bit... Sad? 

He approached them and offered a hand. "A wonderful pleasure it is to meet you two, I'm sure you know who I am and I feel like I already know you two but... What may I call you? And how may I best avoid frightening your little one?"

"Easy enough, just call us Red and Blue." Blue says gently taking the offered hand and giving it a firm shake, Red following after. The two, now getting a better look at him, this Gaster seemed to have quite a few differences from the one their daughter was mortified of. "The biggest thing would be surprising her. I think if we show her you from a distance, then it might help."

Gaster began to speak in wing dings but paused when he realized that the other two might not understand him despite being alternate versions of his son. With a small sigh, he began to sign after shaking their hands. "I will keep my distance, then. I would love to meet the children, though. I adore and love 'my' grandchildren with all my soul, it would be lovely to meet other versions of them..."

Blue nodded his head, quietly signing back. "Don't worry about it, Gaster. It'll all work out." He smile didn't waver, but wow, it had been some years since he'd attempted to sign, at least since Roman was a toddler.

"Speaking of, think w-we should check on them?" Red spoke up, the noise from the kids' rooms had seemed to die down, and it was beginning to get a little too suspicious for him, his eyes darting in the direction of said rooms.

Gaster seemed pleasantly surprised when Blue began to sign back to him rather than speaking, smiling and began to sign just a bit quicker. "Oh, you can sign as well, how wonderful! The children, both mine and their own, know how and I've been slowly teaching Herc and Tempus wing dings but it's always nice to come across another signer."

Sans perked up at hearing the silence, a slightly worried look. "I don't think they'd be getting into trouble but they may have heard the door open and figure somebody's come home... And want to investigate who..."

"Oh no..." Sans murmured as Gasters smile faltered though he waved back. He glanced at Blue and Red, unsure of what to do since if his two grandchildren were coming down then the other three would surely follow.

Blue had started to sign a reply, but was cut off by Herc and Tempus shouting from above. He and Red had the same look of worry on their features.

The three had eagerly followed the lead, but the moment the two shouted for their grandfather, Arial stumbled, reeling back into the bedroom, not daring to look down like her brother and cousin were. Panic crossed her face as she moved to hide behind the wall.

"You have a Gaster?" Courier peered down with the others, he looked a lot different from the one they were used to. Roman just waved down at him, before noticing his sister's absence. His head turned to find her, but couldn't.

"A-Arial...?" He called out, moving to look back in the bedroom to see her, knees curled to her chest.

\----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And not to bore you with the entire ending again, I'll leave it here!


End file.
